The next time anybody is at the John Deere company museum, they must be sure to check if Herbert J. Markley, head of the tractor firm’s agricultural division, was as good as his word when he promised Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov this week that a copy of the Rukhnama would occupy a prominent place on its grounds. As government newspaper Neutralnii Turkmenistan reported on Wednesday, John Deere has once again become the beneficiary of a multi-million dollar deal for the supply of agricultural machinery. After a meeting between Niyazov and Markley on Tuesday, a contract was signed extending a long-established business partnership between the parties and completing a deal to supply Turkmenistan with 150 wheat combine harvesters, worth $23 million, and spare parts to the value of $4 million.
During their encounter, Niyazov also took the opportunity to thank John Deere for its operations on the Turkmen market, which have been carrying on since 1993, while they both expressed mutual confidence that the collaboration would stand to continue for the foreseeable future.
In September 2003, President of John Deere Worldwide Agriculture, David Everett, visited Turkmenistan, at which time his company sealed a deal to supply 100 wheat combine harvesters and 50 cotton-combines, to the cost of $27 million. As NewsCentralAsia reported at the time:

“[The] John Deere-Turkmen partnership dates back to 1993 when Turkmenistan purchased harvester combines from John Deere. After extensive testing in local conditions, John Deere machinery was found [to be] suitable for Turkmenistan and on 24 April 1998, during the visit of President Niyazov to [United States], the government of Turkmenistan signed an agreement with John Deere for the supply, repair, maintenance and user/maintainer training of agricultural machinery.
[Over] 10 years of cooperation, Turkmenistan has purchased 694 tractors to a total value of $77.5 million, 258 wheat-combines worth $41.3 million, and 148 cotton-combines for a total sum of $27.7 million. In addition, John Deere has supplied thousands of smaller machines and equipment.
In all, John Deere has supplied more than 3,500 machinery units to Turkmenistan. The total value of these items exceeds $170 million.
John Deere maintains permanent repair and maintenance facilities in Turkmenistan.”

During Wednesday’s meeting, Markley also stated that he was ready to organise training session for Turkmen agricultural workers at John Deere’s own factories, but not before noting that they were already highly skilled.
Before concluding their encounter, Markley thanked Niyazov and congratulated him on the 15th anniversary of his country independence. He continued by remarking how impressed he was by Ashgabat and its architecture, noting that it clearly demonstrated the achievements of the era of independence. Finally, Markley impressed on Niyazov how he had heard wonderful things about the Rukhnama and wished to read it, and he also expressed a desire to visit the mosque in Kipchak and visit the graves of Niyazov’s parents.
Now, this kind of scene is familiar for anyone who has observed the ritual flattery that large-scale foreign investors must indulge in when meeting Niyazov, but the degree of unctuousness achieved here by Markley is remarkable. For all the discussions that took place on these pages some months back about the relative merits of opening up European trade to Turkmenistan, it is hard to imagine how many foreign companies will be prepared to gratify Niyazov’s ego and his dubious apparatus of power while risking their reputations just for the sake of a lucrative contract. All too many, it would appear.