VZCZCXRO2350
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHAH #1643 3560512
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 220512Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY ASHGABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3941
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 6031
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 3725
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 3584
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 4273
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1338
RHMCSUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 4212
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC

UNCLAS ASHGABAT 001643 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SCA/CEN; EEB; 
COMMERCE FOR DSTARKS/EHOUSE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV EIND EMIN BBSR BEXP BTIO TX
SUBJECT: ASHGABAT'S PRICEY WHITE MARBLE DECOR 
 
¶1.  (U) Sensitive but unclassified.  Not for public Internet. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In the mid 1990s, the late Turkmen President Niyazov 
ordered that each newly-built, multistoried house or office building 
be decked with white marble siding, in order to beautify Turkmen 
cities, especially Ashgabat.  Although the marble is pleasing to the 
eye, there has been concern regarding its cost and its radon 
radiation levels.  The Turkmen standardization authority checks 
marble and granite radon radiation levels on all construction 
projects.  Nevertheless, local residents in Ashgabat have complained 
of radon-related illness from buildings, especially where marble is 
used in the interior of the building as well as the exterior. 
Nevertheless, the white marble requirement remains in force by 
Niyazov's successor President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who 
continues to spend a large share of his nation's hydrocarbon 
revenues on elaborate construction projects. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Stone mines in northern Kuihop, Vietnam supply the 
overwhelming majority of white marble for Ashgabat's white city 
projects.  A well known Turkmen entrepreneur and his Indian partner 
told Embassy reps that they sell marble siding and flooring to 
foreign construction companies in Turkmenistan.  Their company 
reportedly controls 20 percent of the Turkmen market, which amounts 
to sales between $8-12 million a month depending on the type of 
marble and whether it is purchased during high or low construction 
seasons.  They asserted that the Turkmen construction sector 
consumes 1 million square meters of marble annually, while 
estimating that marble siding alone costs the country around $120 
million a year.  The price for 1 square meter of Vietnamese marble 
in Turkmenistan reportedly ranges between $50 and $70.  So, on 
average, a standard, twelve-story building, which has an exterior 
area of about 14,000 square meters, may cost the government between 
$700,000 -$980,000 in marble siding alone.  The French construction 
giant Bouygues also imports expensive Italian marble blocks.  This 
high-cost Italian marble can be found on the most expensive office 
buildings in the country.  Marble traders added that Bouygues saves 
big on costs by cutting its high-end marble blocks in a factory just 
outside Ashgabat. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) One Turkmen marble dealer stated that marble procurement 
for construction in the country has risen significantly during the 
three years that Berdimuhamedov has been president.  The Caspian 
resort area Avaza and new regional projects all require marble 
siding, with reportedly no exceptions.  At the same time, recent 
competition for marble among producers has reduced prices somewhat, 
as construction companies have reportedly turned to cheaper marble 
products produced in smaller Vietnamese mines.  The Turkmen 
government's recent move to strengthen control over the importation 
of radioactive materials has further complicated these large stone 
imports.  Moreover, the white marble siding is usually hung on a few 
steel pegs with each slab weighing 100 lbs on average.  During an 
earthquake, some construction experts fear that the marble could 
easily dislodge and become flying hazards for those on the ground in 
the proximity of the large marble structures. 
¶5.  (SBU) COMMENT: The white marble buildings which abound in 
Ashgabat have turned the "city of love" into the "white city."  In 
addition, these white buildings continue to pop up in other Turkmen 
cities.  Although President Berdimuhamedov has divorced himself from 
some of the practices of his predecessor Niyazov, it looks like 
white marble is here to stay, despite exuberant costs and subsequent 
safety issues.  END COMMENT. 
CURRAN