The Turkish Construction company Polimeks [yes, that is their real name] has been contracted to build more great buildings in Turkmenistan. I say more, because most of the postcards in Turkmenistan seem to revolve around Turkmenbashi and the mega-megalithic-super-monuments built in his name, many of which were built by the same Turkish construction firm.
But wait? Turkmenbashi is dead, the country is undergoing reforms, and the era of building monuments while your children go uneducated and untreated is over. Or is it?
Responding to Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review’s questions via email, Cem Siyahi, vice chairman of Polimeks, said the company has been active in Turkmenistan for the past 17 years. “Polimeks Construction has been doing business in Turkmenistan, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkey for the past 15 years,” he wrote. “Throughout this period, we have completed 62 projects. Just recently, we have signed the contracts for eight new projects [in Turkmenistan], totaling nearly $1 billion.”
That’s not necessarily bad. They might be building the infrastructure that didn’t receive gold-and-chrome plating during the Turkmenbashi days. Maybe they’re going to build new hospitals and schools? Maybe new public auditoriums, or mass transportation, or just some new bus and train stations. I’m sure the average Turkmen would really enjoy that kind of building, considering it would help the Everyman more than the super elite that lives at the top 1% of the economy. So, what is in the works, exactly?
These giant projects include a 20,000-seat stadium and a hotel complex, another complex including a Civil Defense Ministry and military academy buildings, a 44-kilometer highway, a 10,000-seat capacity ice hockey building, the reconstruction of a hotel and a complex of fountain pools.
Well, a highway would be nice, but 44-kilometers isn’t very long, and it’s probably just going to connect the hotel to the hockey complex. [Sigh...]
This post was written by...
Michael Hancock-Parmer – author of 153 posts on Registan.net.
PhD student in Central Eurasian Studies and Russian History at Indiana University
{ 3 comments }
Actually, it the company called Polymeks. I wish author did a little research on issue.
That’s kind of a harsh criticism for a typo on my part. I was just surprised to see a company’s name so similar to the word “polemic.” And it’s still pretty similar. Are you wishing I had done more research on the company, or more research into how Berdybashi is wasting Turkmenistan’s money?
On second thought, I guess I could have made it clear that Polimeks is not really the focus of this post, but on Turkmenistan renewing its trend of wasting public resources on gilding Ashgabat. Polimeks is just a construction company, and their clients include similarly wealthy projects in Kazakhstan. My apologies if that was unclear.