VZCZCXRO7689
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHAH #0561/01 1451339
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251339Z MAY 06 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7373
INFO RUEHKV/AMEMBASSY KIEV 0476
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 0390
ALNED/ALNED COLLECTIVE
RUCNOSC/OSCE POST COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL//CCJ2/HSE/CCJ5//
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC//J5/RUE//
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000561 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN (PERRY) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL EPET PINR AF UP TX
SUBJECT: Ukrainian Ambassador to Ashgabat Viktor Mayko to 
be Dual-Accredited to Kabul 
 
 
ASHGABAT 00000561  001.4 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified.  Not for Internet 
Distribution. 
 
Ref:      A) Ashgabat 552 
          B) 5/24/06 Brush-Norland email 
          C) Ashgabat 532 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Ukrainian Ambassador to Ashgabat Viktor Mayko 
will travel to Kabul in mid-June to present his 
credentials to President Karzai.  Ukraine previously had 
been represented by its ambassador in Tashkent.  Mayko 
will be a valuable interlocutor on energy issues and also 
on the trials and tribulations of trying to do business 
with President Niyazov.  Mayko is an excellent diplomat 
and is interested in having a productive relationship 
with Embassy Kabul.  End Summary. 
 
Mayko to Kabul 
-------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) On May 24 Charge met with Ukrainian Embassy 
Economics Counselor Olga Timush, and Political First 
Secretary Igor Roman to discuss Ambassador Mayko's plans 
 
SIPDIS 
to present his credentials to Afghanistani President 
Karzai in June.  According to Roman, Yushchenko has 
invited Karzai to visit Ukraine in the second half of 
¶2006.  (Timush and Roman also provided the current state 
of play on gas negotiations reported ref A.)  Timush said 
that Mayko was anxious to establish strong ties to the 
U.S. Embassy in Kabul and hoped to be able to call on 
Ambassador Neumann during his visit.  Timush and Roman 
plan to travel to Kabul June 8 to lay the groundwork for 
Mayko's visit.  They noted that in addition to discussing 
policy, they were interested in discussing logistics, in 
particular communications.  Charge offered to forward the 
request and provide Mayko's biography to Embassy Kabul 
(Ref B). 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Timush and Roman avoided answering Charge's 
question about why accreditation was being shifted from 
Tashkent to Ashgabat, but agreed that Ukraine's expertise 
in the pipeline construction sector could assist any 
eventual Trans-Afghan Pipeline (TAP) project.  To this 
end they emphasized Maykos' prior job as Deputy Director 
of Ukrainian construction giant "Interbudmontazh." 
(http://www.interbudmontazh.com/eng/home.php) 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Charge reviewed the current state of play on 
the TAP, noting the triumvirate of unknowns: 
 
-- volume of gas supplies in Turkmenistan, 
 
-- security in Afghanistan, and 
 
-- volume of demand from Pakistan/India. 
 
Charge also noted that though the USG thought the idea of 
a TAP had considerable merit, U.S. companies were not 
showing significant interest in this project because of 
these unknowns. 
 
Mayko's Biography 
----------------------- 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Ambassador Mayko is well and favorably known to 
the embassy.  He is eager to cooperate with the United 
States and exchange views and information.  Since his 
arrival in 2005 (and following the election of 
Yushchenko) his entire mission has been on a bit of a 
friendship offensive with us.  Mayko speaks excellent 
English and has an acerbic wit which, to the delight of 
the diplomatic corps, he regularly deploys at the expense 
of his Russian colleagues. 
 
¶5.  (U) Following is the biography the Ukrainian Embassy 
 
ASHGABAT 00000561  002.4 OF 002 
 
 
provided upon Mayko's arrival in Ashgabat: 
 
Begin Text: 
 
Viktor Mayko 
(biography) 
 
Date and place of birth: July 7, 1960; Dnipropetrovsk 
 
Citizenship: Ukraine 
 
Marital status: married, has a daughter (born in 1985) 
 
EDUCATION 
 
1982 - graduated from the Kiev State University named 
after T. Shevchenko (journalism) 
 
1999 - completed postgraduate studies at the Ukrainian 
Foreign Trade Academy 
 
Candidate of Economic Science 
 
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 
 
1977 - 1982: Student of the Kiev State University named 
after T. Shevchenko 
 
1982 - 1984: Reporter of the "Prapor zmagannya" newspaper 
 
1984 - 1989: Military service 
 
1989 - 1991: Chief Science Editor of the Advanced 
Training Institute for Senior Officers of the Ministry of 
Internal Affairs of Ukraine 
 
1991 - 1992: Head of the Marketing Department of the 
Westinform Small-sized Enterprise 
 
1992 - 1994: Director of the Interprofservice Joint 
Venture 
 
1994 - 1999: Deputy Head, Head of the Trade and Economic 
Mission of the Ukrainian Embassy in the UK 
 
1999 - 2000: Head of the Investment Cooperation and 
Exchange Control Department; Head of the Main Department 
of Multilateral Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of 
Foreign Economic Relations and Trade of Ukraine; 
Executive Secretary of the Interagency Committee for 
Ukraine's Entry into the WTO 
 
2000 - 2005: Director for Foreign Economic Relations and 
Strategic Planning, First Deputy Chairman of the 
Interbudmontazh Joint-Stock Company 
 
2005 - Present: Ambassador Extraordinary and 
Plenipotentiary of Ukraine in Turkmenistan 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6.  (U) Embassy will provide more details about 
Ambassador Mayko's visit as they become available and 
thanks Embassy Kabul for any assistance it can provide. 
End Comment. 
 
BRUSH