VZCZCXRO1301
OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW
RUEHLA RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNEH RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHROV
RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTA #0193/01 0340122
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 030122Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASTANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4498
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE 1121
RUCNCLS/SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0518
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 1224
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFAAA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC 0695
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC 0611
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASTANA 000193 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON SOCI KZ
SUBJECT:  KAZAKHSTAN:  ASTANA MAYOR TASMAGAMBETOV DETAILS PLANS FOR 
CITY, ARGUES KAZAKHSTAN HAS COME A LONG WAY 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2. (SBU) SUMMARY:  Astana Akim (Mayor) Imangali Tasmagambetov told 
the Ambassador on January 28 that government assistance is 
facilitating a recovery of Astana's construction sector.  He 
maintained that signature projects in the city's government quarter 
remain on track for completion.  Tasmagambetov argued that utilities 
and transport are actually a bigger concern than construction, with 
plans underway to improve the city's supply of electricity and water 
and build a light rail system.  He later turned the conversation 
toward broader horizons, stressing how far Kazakhstan has come 
during its 17 years of independence and praising President 
Nazarbayev's leadership.  END SUMMARY. 
 
GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE HELPS CONSTRUCTION SECTOR 
 
¶3. (SBU) Astana Akim (Mayor) Imangali Tasmagambetov opened a January 
28 meeting with the Ambassador by offering congratulations on the 
inauguration of President Obama.  He told the Ambassador that Astana 
has come a long way during the 10 years it has been the country's 
capital.  When he first came to Astana (which was then known as 
Aqmola), it was little more than a provincial town, with no evidence 
that it could be transformed into a capital.  Now it is a modern 
city that meets international standards.  Tasmagambetov said that 
government assistance is facilitating a recovery of Astana's 
construction sector -- which crashed in August 2007, when the global 
financial crisis first hit Kazakhstan.  According to Tasmagambetov, 
the most serious problems have already been overcome, with 50% of 
frozen projects finished off last year.  (NOTE:  In fact, a certain 
number of buildings were "finished" only on the outside so that 
they'd look better for Astana's 10th anniversary celebration on July 
6, 2008.  END NOTE.)  As far as he is concerned, there were many 
positive aspects to the construction crash.  Artificially high real 
estate prices have already fallen by 40 percent, and the government 
has undertaken steps to protect the rights of investors and ensure 
that construction companies are financially viable and that 
construction is high quality. 
 
SIGNATURE PROJECTS ON TRACK 
 
¶4. (SBU) Tasmagambetov maintained that signature projects in 
Astana's government quarter remain on track.  He said work is 
continuing on the privately-financed Khan Shatyry -- a 500-foot-tall 
translucent tent designed by British architect Sir Norman Foster. 
While the high-tech tent material can only be put up in the spring, 
when the weather is warmer, Tasmagambetov nevertheless expected the 
project to be completed by July (presumably for Astana's July 6 
"city day"), through he maintained it would be better to finish the 
project late, rather than rush the work and sacrifice quality.  He 
said Astana's new concert hall, designed by the Italian-Kosovar 
architect Piccoli with seating for 3,500 people, should also be 
completed by July.  He alluded to certain engineering problems, but 
insisted work is continuing on the interior.  (NOTE:  Later the same 
day, the Italian Ambassador told the Ambassador the project is a 
"migraine headache."  The engineering problem Tasmagambetov alluded 
to was, in fact, the recent collapse of one section of the 
avant-garde, technologically complex design.  END NOTE.) 
 
PLANS TO IMPROVE UTILITIES, TRANSPORT 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to Tasmagambetov, utilities and transport are a 
bigger concern for the city government than construction projects. 
He explained that the original plan was for Astana's population to 
top off at 450,000 people, but because of unexpectedly high internal 
migration, the city has already grown to almost 700,000 residents, 
with the population expected to reach one million by 2012.  From his 
perspective, this is a positive development, because the higher 
population makes Astana more economically viable, especially for the 
development of small- and medium-sized enterprises.  However, the 
rapid population grow has put a strain on existing utilities and 
transport capacity.  Plans are thus underway to significantly 
increase the city's electricity supply.  Two power plants have been 
renovated, and construction will begin on a third one -- a one 
billion dollar project -- in mid-2009.  The Japanese have provided 
 
ASTANA 00000193  002 OF 002 
 
 
loans for a water supply project, which includes construction of 
pumping and filtration stations and 100 kilometers of new water 
mains.   On the transport side, the government will issue a tender 
in March for a light-rail system that is expected to cost about one 
billion dollars. 
 
KAZAKHSTAN HAS COME A LONG WAY 
 
¶6. (SBU) Tasmagambetov later turned the conversation toward broader 
horizons, stressing how far Kazakhstan has come during its 17 years 
of independence and praising President Nazarbayev's leadership. 
According to Tasmagambetov, the country carries heavy historical 
baggage -- ranging from gulags to atmospheric nuclear tests to an 
older generation that still doesn't understand today's values and 
harkens back to a period when the government guaranteed everything 
-- yet it has still managed to take remarkable strides forward.  He 
pointed in particular to Nazarbayev's decision to give up the 
country's nuclear weapons -- a decision more difficult, he claimed, 
than Ukraine's, because the Kazakhstanis had all the elements 
necessary to continue a nuclear program, including a test site, a 
nuclear-scientific city (Kurchatov), and an indigenous uranium 
supply, and were being encouraged by the Russians to keep the test 
site open for several years.  Tasmagambetov also singled out 
Nazarbayev's decision to sign a 1992 agreement with Chevron to 
develop the Tengiz oil field.  In hindsight, it's easy to criticize 
Nazarbayev for offering very favorable terms to Chevron, but the 
company was taking a big risk, not knowing what would happen with 
the future of the country, he argued.   The situation in Kazakhstan 
is more complicated than in some of the other Central Asian states, 
because Kazakhstan has a multi-ethnic, multi-confessional society. 
On a particularly encouraging note, Kazakhstan has managed 
generational change, with a new post-Soviet generation, positively 
disposed toward the West, taking over top-level government positions 
from the old Communist Party leadership, Tasmagambetov pointed out. 
 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT:  Tasmagambetov is a trusted Nazarbayev lieutenant 
whose career has tracked closely with the President's for several 
decades.   In 1989, when Nazarbayev was named First Secretary of the 
Communist Party of the Kazakh SSR, Tasmagambetov was appointed to 
head the Party's Komsomol youth wing.   In the post-Soviet period, 
Tasmagambetov has served stints as Prime Minister, State Secretary, 
and Presidential Administration head.  He has a reputation as a man 
who can get things done.  In April 2008, Nazarbayev brought 
Tasmagambetov back from Almaty, where he had been Akim since 2004, 
to make him Astana Akim.  Tasmagambetov then kick-started a 
breakneck effort to whip the city into shape for its 10th 
anniversary celebration, finishing off a number of long-stalled 
construction projects (and repaving virtually every major road in 
the city simultaneously).  The 52-year-old Tasmagambetov is often 
considered a potential successor to Nazarbayev, and his foray into 
broader issues during his meeting with the Ambassador is an 
indication that he has an eye on national-level politics.  Some 
public opinion polling indicates that Tasmagambetov is the second 
most respected political figure in the country after Nazarbayev 
(though a distant second, of course).  At the same time, he has no 
shortage of detractors.  During his tenure as Almaty Akim, 
Tasmagambetov was consistently pilloried by the opposition press for 
his and his family's alleged corruption, and for the callous way he 
dealt with migrants to Almaty who built dwellings without 
appropriate legal documentation.  On the issue of Astana's 
construction sector, we are less sanguine than Tasmagambetov.  From 
what we have heard from other sources, a lot of unfinished 
residential construction projects could remain idle for several 
years or longer.  END COMMENT. 
 
HOAGLAND