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DE RUEHAH #0876 1950628
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 140628Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3129
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UNCLAS ASHGABAT 000876 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN; EEB 
PLEASE PASS TO USTDA DAN STEIN 
ENERGY FOR EKIMOFF/THOMPSON 
COMMERCE FOR HUEPER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EPET PGOV EINV TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: DISMISSAL OF TURKMENISTAN'S HIGHEST RANKING 
OIL AND GAS OFFICIAL 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SUMMARY: During an expanded Cabinet session on July 10, 
President Berdimuhamedov announced the dismissal of Tachberdi 
Tagyev, the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet in charge of the oil and 
gas industry.  Berdimuhamedov cited the "unsatisfactory rate of 
development of the oil and gas industry" as the main reason for his 
dismissal.  Tagyev was given a new appointment to the position of 
Director of the Seydi Oil Refinery.  Baymyrat Hojamuhammedov, who 
served as Chairman of Turkmengaz State Concern, replaced Tagyev as 
Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Tachberdi Tagyev is one of the longest serving Turkmen 
officials and one of the last remaining officials from the late 
President Niyazov's Cabinet.  Starting in 2000, he served in the 
following capacities: Deputy Chairman of the Turkmen State Oil 
Concern, Minister of Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral Resources, 
Governor of the oil-rich Balkan province, Director of the 
Turkmenbashy Oil Refinery, Chairman of the Turkmengaz State Concern, 
and Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers.  Turkmen oil and 
gas sector employees characterize Tagyev as a "production person" 
rather than a "paperwork person", emphasizing that he can more 
successfully manage production facilities rather than run an office. 
 They also consider him very skillful at avoiding signing any 
documents that might cause him problems and note that he has 
survived considerable scrutiny and a number of investigations of his 
professional activities.  (COMMENT: U.S. energy company reps also 
describe Tagyev as very skillful in keeping paper from moving 
forward.  END COMMENT.) 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Tagyev's replacement, Baymyrat Hojamuhammedov, had not 
previously held any high-ranking positions before his unexpected 
appointment as Minister of the Oil and Gas Industry and Mineral 
Resources in 2007.  He moved to the position of Chairman of the 
Turkmengaz State Concern in 2008.  He has vast experience in gas 
trade issues, which he accumulated while working in the Turkmen Oil 
and Gas Trade Corporation in 2003 - 2006, and is believed to be a 
skillful negotiator, a skill that his predecessor was reportedly 
lacking.  He has played a key role in conducting the recent gas 
sales negotiations with Iran, which resulted in an agreement to 
increase gas exports to that country.  He also reportedly has very 
good relations with President Berdimuhamedov, but there are 
conflicting rumors as to when and how he managed to build those 
relations. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) COMMENT:  Rumors that Tagyev would "soon" be fired have 
circulated for at least two years.  Why was he fired now?  The 
information available thus far is insufficient for any definitive 
conclusions regarding the actual reasons behind Tagyev's dismissal, 
but there are several versions that are worth mentioning.  Version 
1: The President may have wanted to have "one of his own" in this 
key position instead of the Niyazov-era Tagyev.  Factors supporting 
this version are the fact that Hojamuhammedov has been steadily 
moving up the chain of command since the beginning of with 
Berdimuhamedov's presidency and that fact that rumors about Tagyev's 
dismissal and Hojamuhammedov's appointment began circulating in the 
country a few months ago.  Version 2: Hojamuhammedov was appointed 
in the hope that he will be more effective at a time when 
Turkmenistan is trying to move forward with diversifying its energy 
exports and has significantly intensified its efforts to achieve 
such diversification.  Version 3: Berdimuhamedov, on the eve of his 
trip to Moscow, needed a scapegoat for the problems with Russia over 
gas.  END COMMENT 
 
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