VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNT #0385/01 0920409
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 010409Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9449
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 2767
RUEHAH/AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT 3857
RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ASTANA 0070
RUEHEK/AMEMBASSY BISHKEK 4472
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 0350
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 7344
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL 2337
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC

UNCLAS TASHKENT 000385 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/CEN, USDA FAS FOR OCBD/KREAMER, CROUSHORN, 
SCHWARTZ USDA FAS FOR OCRA/CURTIS, FLEMINGS USDA FAS FOR 
OFSO/DEVER ANKARA FOR FAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ECON ECIN SOCI PGOV PREL UZ
SUBJECT: US-UZBEKISTAN WORKING GROUP REVIEWS AGRICULTURE 
COOPERATION 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: The U.S.-Uzbekistan Joint Working Group 
(JWG) met on March 19 to review implementation of projects 
funded by U.S. Food for Progress programs.  Ministry of 
Finance Deputy Minister Tursunov repeatedly apologized for 
delays in the financing of ten projects and assured the U.S. 
side that his government would issue a decree authorizing 
funds disbursement within 20 days.  The U.S. co-chair replied 
that similar promises made last July had not been kept, and 
that without concrete progress our concern over continued 
delays would be raised at a higher political level.  Tursunov 
pledged that the Government of Uzbekistan (GOU) would do its 
best to provide quarterly status reports on project 
implementation and official bank statements on the interest 
accumulated by the U.S. Food for Progress funds, and he also 
agreed to allow Agriculture Counselor or Embassy staff 
members to monitor projects that have been completed or are 
underway.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The U.S.-Uzbekistan Joint Working Group (JWG) met for 
the eleventh time on March 19 in Tashkent.  Deputy Minister 
of Finance Tursunov and Agriculture Counselor Ralph Gifford 
co-chair the JWG, which reviews implementation of 38 
mutually-agreed projects funded with 16.75 billion UZS (12.78 
million USD) from FY 2003 and FY 2004 USDA Food for Progress 
programs.  (Note: UZS conversions to USD use the March 27 
rate of 1,311 UZS to each USD.  End note.) Four other 
Government of Uzbekistan officials attended, including 
Alisher Mursaliyev, Head of the International Financial 
Institutions Department of the Ministry of Foreign Economic 
Relations, Valentin Zimin of the Ministry of Agriculture and 
Water Resources, and Botir Alimukhamedov, Deputy Minister of 
Labor and Social Protection.  The U.S. side included Embassy 
Poloff Steven Prohaska, Ag Specialist Nizam Yuldashbaev and 
USAID Project Management Specialist Alexander Kalashnikov. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Tursunov began the meeting with a briefing on the 
status of seven projects already underway.  Government decree 
508 had approved these projects, and six of them have nearly 
been completed.  Tursunov said he hoped to receive final 
reports on the completed projects soon. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Tursunov apologized for not disbursing funds and 
implementing twelve other projects as he had promised at the 
previous JWG meeting last July.  He blamed bureaucracy in the 
Ministry of Finance, adding that the person responsible for 
the delay had been punished and replaced.  Tursunov then 
pledged that within 20 days, the projects will be financed 
and the funds disbursed.  A new draft decree will address 10 
of the 12 Food for Progress projects because the GOU will be 
funding the other two--a canal in Kashkadarya and improving 
irrigation conditions in Bukhara--from a new land reclamation 
fund.  Tursunov proposed that the Food for Progress funds for 
these two projects instead be diverted to work on the Buston 
Canal in Karakalpakstan.  Tursunov said that the canal itself 
has been finished, but they require additional funds to build 
a bridge and surrounding infrastructure.  He requested that 
U.S. fund 523 million UZS (398,932 USD) of the 920 million 
UZS (701,754 USD) project. 
 
¶5. (SBU) Within the next five days, a decree will be 
officially presented to the Cabinet of Ministers for its 
approval; Deputy Prime Minister Azimov already has given his 
approval to finalize this decree, and everything has been 
coordinated, Tursunov assured the U.S. side.  The 10 projects 
to be included in the decree are as follows: 
 
¶I. Emergency medical care education, initiated by Medical 
Team International, approved for 450 million UZS (343,249 
USD). 
II. Financing the construction of pumping stations 
"Havast-Gallakor" in Syrdarya region, initiated by the 
Ministry of Agriculture, approved for 200 million UZS 
(152,555 USD). 
III. Equipment for labs in Kashkadarya, Ferghana, and 
Khorezm, initiated by the Uzbekistan Scientific Plant 
Research Institute, approved for 25 million UZS (19,069 USD). 
 
IV. Creation of new, disease-resistant, fast-growing cotton 
varieties, initiated by the Institute of Genetics and 
 
Experimental Biology, approved for 45 million UZS (34,325 
USD). 
¶V. Creation of new cotton varieties, initiated by the 
Institute of Genetics and Experimental Biology, approved for 
45 million UZS (34,325 USD). 
VI. New methods of melon growing, initiated by the Res 
Institute for Melons and Vegetables, approved for 25 million 
UZS (19,069 USD). 
VII. Cattle breeding, initiated by the Res Institute of 
Astrakhan and Desert Ecology, approved for 25 million UZS 
(19,069 USD). 
VIII. Poultry rations/forage development, initiated by the 
Poultry Farming Production Center, approved for 25 million 
UZS (19,069 USD). 
IX. Irrigation methods for grain, increasing production 
yields, initiated by the Andijan Agriculture Institute, 
approved for 40 million UZS (30,511 USD). 
¶X. Water monitoring and metering equipment, initiated by 
USAID, approved for 850 million UZS (64,836 USD). 
 
¶6. (SBU) Agcouns thanked Tursunov for the update and promises 
of rapid progress, but added that his optimism was limited 
because similar pledges made last July remained unfulfilled 
nine months later.  He said that Washington officials wanted 
to know why implementation of all the projects had not been 
completed yet. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Tursunov again asked for forgiveness, acknowledging 
that he himself was partly to blame for the delay.  He said 
that the GOU would do its best to finalize internal 
coordination and get a new implementation decree issued 
within 20 days, and would simultaneously begin work on a 
decree financing the next 8-10 projects.   He explained that 
the next decree cannot encompass all of the remaining 
projects because some date from 1996 and 1998--so long ago 
that technical and budget data needs to be updated; otherwise 
one project with incorrect data could delay adoption of the 
entire decree.  Agcouns agreed that because so much time has 
passed since certain projects were proposed, it was 
worthwhile to check with the relevant institutions to ensure 
that they are still willing to participate in these projects. 
(Note: Two U.S. universities, Ohio State and Illinois State, 
are listed as project initiators in partnership with Tashkent 
Economic University and Tashkent State Agrarian University 
respectively.  End note). 
 
¶8. (SBU) The accumulated interest on the initial USDA Food 
for Progress deposit for food monetization program 416b 
amounts to 1.13 billion UZS (861,937 USD), Tursunov noted, 
which he proposed to spend on two new projects.  (Note: 
Tursunov clarified that as of last July a total of 1.5 
billion UZS--1.14 million USD--had been accumulated by the 
416b and 480 food monetization programs.  End note.) 
 
¶9. (SBU) Agcouns requested that the GOU prepare a list of all 
remaining projects that require bureaucratic approval or 
additional technical documentation, and asked whether the 
U.S. could receive periodic progress reports on both existing 
and pending projects.  Tursunov replied that the GOU will do 
its best to submit quarterly status reports.  Agcouns 
suggested that he or Embassy staff be permitted to inspect 
projects that have been completed or are underway, and 
Tursunov agreed, suggesting visits to the Rezakasay Water 
Reservoir in the Ferghana Valley, which Tursunov has visited 
himself. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Tursunov stated that a list of additional projects 
would be delivered to the Embassy in the next five to six 
days, including only projects whose technical documentation 
has been reviewed and approved.  He was hopeful that the next 
list would cover 10 projects, which would leave unfunded only 
six of the 38 projects agreed to in April 2006.  Tursunov 
concluded by agreeing to provide an official statement on the 
bank interest accumulated by the USDA Food for Progress funds. 
 
¶11. (SBU) Agcouns said that progress reports and new decrees 
would go a long way in reducing USG concerns, but that if 
there were no results within one month, these concerns would 
be raised to a higher political level. 
 
 
¶12. (SBU) Comment: The Uzbek co-chair was appropriately 
apologetic and promised several immediate corrective actions. 
 Post will wait thirty days.  If what he has promised has not 
been accomplished, the Ambassador plans to raise this lack of 
progress at the appropriate level.  Post, now slightly better 
staffed than one or two years ago, will take Tursunov up on 
his offer to visit completed projects, to verify for 
ourselves. 
NORLAND