Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10ASHGABAT98
2010-01-21 13:15:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN: STATE FARMS STILL RUN BY SOVIET
how-toVZCZCXYZ0000 RR RUEHWEB DE RUEHAH #0098 0211315 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 211315Z JAN 10 FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4108 INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 6151 RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3837 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3696 RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 4395 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1430 RHMCSUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 4321 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000098
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN; ANKARA FOR AGRICULTURAL COUNSELOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR PGOV SOCI TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: STATE FARMS STILL RUN BY SOVIET
METHODS
UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000098
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN; ANKARA FOR AGRICULTURAL COUNSELOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR PGOV SOCI TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: STATE FARMS STILL RUN BY SOVIET
METHODS
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for Public
Internet.
2. (U) The famous Turkmen farmer Myratberdy Sopiyev,
Chairman of the Agricultural Joint Stock Association
named after him, recently celebrated his eightieth
birthday. President Berdimuhamedov sent Sopiyev
congratulations and a birthday gift. Local state-run
newspapers published articles dedicated to the "Hero
of Turkmenistan" and the "Honorable Elder of
Turkmenistan," which are official titles that former
President Niyazov awarded Sopiyev. Sopiyev has headed
his eponymous state farm for 45 years.
3. (SBU) In Soviet-era Turkmenistan, this state farm
was a showcase farm to demonstrate to foreign tourists
the advantages of the kolkhoz (collective farm)
system. In the early nineties, following former
President Niyazov's reorganization of the farm system,
the former "Soviet Turkmenistan" kolkhoz entity was
renamed "agricultural joint stock association."
According to a contact in the State Veterinary
Service, the change in name did not change the nature
of the state farm. The farm directors still do not
have the freedom to make decisions about land usage,
agricultural production, or marketing. Farmers on the
state farm still lease land from the state to grow
wheat and cotton, which they sell to the state at
prices fixed by the government.
4. (SBU) In addition to wheat and cotton, Sopiyev's
farm grows grapes, fruit, and vegetables for the
market and owns 2,900 cattle. It has its own dairy
and meat processing plants, and a wine factory. The
farmers receive a bonus at the end of the year if
there is any profit generated from the state farm's
commercial production. However, because 88 percent of
the state farm's land is used for wheat and cotton,
the commercial production is insignificant and profits
heavily depend on wheat and cotton contracts. This
leaves the farm little money to repair housing or do
anything else to prevent a gradual decline in the
farmers' standard of living.
5. (SBU) COMMENT: Like in the past, Berdimuhamedov's
government continues to use Sopiyev's farm as a
showcase farm, this time to demonstrate how well
Berdimuhamedov takes care of farmers and how
productive they are. However, during the Soviet era
the government provided sufficient funding to support
the image. In independent Turkmenistan, the burden of
maintaining the image falls heavily on the farmers.
END COMMENT.
CURRAN
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN; ANKARA FOR AGRICULTURAL COUNSELOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR PGOV SOCI TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: STATE FARMS STILL RUN BY SOVIET
METHODS
1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for Public
Internet.
2. (U) The famous Turkmen farmer Myratberdy Sopiyev,
Chairman of the Agricultural Joint Stock Association
named after him, recently celebrated his eightieth
birthday. President Berdimuhamedov sent Sopiyev
congratulations and a birthday gift. Local state-run
newspapers published articles dedicated to the "Hero
of Turkmenistan" and the "Honorable Elder of
Turkmenistan," which are official titles that former
President Niyazov awarded Sopiyev. Sopiyev has headed
his eponymous state farm for 45 years.
3. (SBU) In Soviet-era Turkmenistan, this state farm
was a showcase farm to demonstrate to foreign tourists
the advantages of the kolkhoz (collective farm)
system. In the early nineties, following former
President Niyazov's reorganization of the farm system,
the former "Soviet Turkmenistan" kolkhoz entity was
renamed "agricultural joint stock association."
According to a contact in the State Veterinary
Service, the change in name did not change the nature
of the state farm. The farm directors still do not
have the freedom to make decisions about land usage,
agricultural production, or marketing. Farmers on the
state farm still lease land from the state to grow
wheat and cotton, which they sell to the state at
prices fixed by the government.
4. (SBU) In addition to wheat and cotton, Sopiyev's
farm grows grapes, fruit, and vegetables for the
market and owns 2,900 cattle. It has its own dairy
and meat processing plants, and a wine factory. The
farmers receive a bonus at the end of the year if
there is any profit generated from the state farm's
commercial production. However, because 88 percent of
the state farm's land is used for wheat and cotton,
the commercial production is insignificant and profits
heavily depend on wheat and cotton contracts. This
leaves the farm little money to repair housing or do
anything else to prevent a gradual decline in the
farmers' standard of living.
5. (SBU) COMMENT: Like in the past, Berdimuhamedov's
government continues to use Sopiyev's farm as a
showcase farm, this time to demonstrate how well
Berdimuhamedov takes care of farmers and how
productive they are. However, during the Soviet era
the government provided sufficient funding to support
the image. In independent Turkmenistan, the burden of
maintaining the image falls heavily on the farmers.
END COMMENT.
CURRAN