The Turkmen leader has repeatedly pointed out the lack of qualified staff in the country. Indeed, one may think that there are no qualified managers in Turkmenistan, given the mass emigration of educated and gifted individuals and retirement age of those who stayed. The country is in need qualified managers.

However, this assumption is only partially true. Turkmenistan is not as large as other countries that need dozens of thousands of well-trained managers. It has sufficient number of people able to create a prosperous state.

At the same time, since Niyazov`s era the country established a certain practice of managers selection when the representatives of some categories, even as wise as Solomon, cannot compete for the executive posts in the ministries, departments or regions.

«Dismissed» or «Former»

After the death of Niyazov, people were hopeful that experienced and well-educated top level officials, who had been fired in the earliest days of independence, would be able to return to their posts. Many of them could still be of benefit to their home country. Unfortunately, this did not occur. They were not offered even the lower posts; yet, their knowledge and experience could have been of service to the current ministers and khyakims.

It might be that state officials of various ranks fear that they will look unattractive against the «former» officials who are still respected by the population.

The three generation check

The policy of checking people’s Turkmen origin up to the third generation, established back in Niyazov`s times, when the candidates for the managerial posts were selected on the principle of «purity of origin», continues. In other words, special services collect and check up the data of all family members of a potential manager, including those, who went to a better world. If discovered that a candidate has a close or remote relative, who has record of conviction, this person becomes an underdog candidate.

Even the fact that the«clean» ministers, selected in this manner, were charged with theft and corruption some time later and imprisoned, did not stop the practice of the checking the candidate’s origin up to the third generation.

Over the twenty years of Turkmenistan`s independence, there is hardly a family without a family member, who has never been in custody or under examination. Thus, only very few people can show the «purity of origin» off.

However, «purity» is a precondition of… personal loyalty, and here the gifts and knowledge of an individual play not the major role.

National minorities

There are no non-Turkmens among the ministers, velayat`s and etrap`s khyakims and heads of large enterprises. Even in places of compact Uzbek settlements, there are no municipal managers of Uzbek origin.

National minorities constitute a rather large (according to different sources up to 20%) portion of population. Certainly, many of them can become effective managers. However, perhaps the authorities fear that by appointing a non-Turkmen manager they will acknowledge the inability of the titular nation to govern its own country, which is absurd. Representatives of national minorities are the equal citizens of the country like ethnic Turkmens and have not only the same rights but the same talents.

Businessmen

Another «domain», where hundreds of highly qualified specialists had to «emigrate», is private entrepreneurship. In the situation of the«controlled» economy, it is rather hard to run a private business. However, some manage to do this, and they are doing it quite successfully.

However, no matter how successful a private entrepreneur is, the way to the state administration is closed for him. He is a stranger. If appointed, he will look out for private business, i.e. the majority of the population, as he is aware what obstacles, created by the state, are faced by the businessmen. According to the opinion of the President’s palace, a manager should observe the interests only of a small circle around the President, who currently hold the power.

Foreign diplomas

Only three current Turkmen state officials have graduated from non-Turkmen universities, and this was back in Soviet times. Those, who received a foreign diploma in the post-Soviet time, are apparently considered politically unreliable.

Too bad, as I think that there are many people who have graduated from Turkish, Russian and EU and US universities and have a higher intellectual and educational level than present day ministers and khyakims.

However, the perception of most of the foreign universities graduates of how the authorities should treat their citizens is totally different from what the President’s administration would like to see.

What do we have

I roughly grouped potential managerial staff in Turkmenistan into five categories. Certainly, many of them can be referred to several categories, outlined here.

However, what do you think will be the total amount of this people? Absolutely right: I also think that it will be more than enough to turn Turkmenistan into a prosperous state.

Yet, they will not be offered the posts in the government or municipal administrations.

Because if they are offered, the others will also head for the country; those who was forced to leave Turkmenistan in order to make use of their gifts and abilities in other parts of the world. And in this case it will be a different, unfamiliar for the world and its own population, Turkmenistan.