US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD4904

Disclaimer: This site has been first put up 15 years ago. Since then I would probably do a couple things differently, but because I've noticed this site had been linked from news outlets, PhD theses and peer rewieved papers and because I really hate the concept of "digital dark age" I've decided to put it back up. There's no chance it can produce any harm now.

OPIC INQUIRY RE: ERBIL HOUSING PROJECT

Identifier: 05BAGHDAD4904
Wikileaks: View 05BAGHDAD4904 at Wikileaks.org
Origin: Embassy Baghdad
Created: 2005-12-08 14:33:00
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Tags: EAID ECON EINV ETRD KPRV IZ
Redacted: This cable was not redacted by Wikileaks.
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS BAGHDAD 004904 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, ECON, EINV, ETRD, KPRV, IZ 
SUBJECT: OPIC INQUIRY RE: ERBIL HOUSING PROJECT 
 
REF: STATE 201641 
 
1.  This cable is in response to questions posed in reftel 
re: OPIC interest in Erbil Housing Project. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Scimitar, Bazian, and KRG Background 
------------------------------------- 
 
2.  Iraqi contacts indicate that Scimitar Global Ventures 
acts as a broker for investing in risky countries.  Bazian 
Investments, which is connected to the Barzani family, has 
not been involved in the Erbil area in the past.  According 
to USG sources in Kirkuk and Erbil, the Kurdish Regional 
Government (KRG) is able to meet contractual obligations 
without difficulty, especially considering that the Barzani 
family will likely be able to mobilize the KRG to provide 
necessary support for the project.  We were unable to uncover 
any information about the Brusknet cable TV investment in 
Sulaymaniyah. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Additional Information on Erbil Housing 
---------------------------------------- 
 
3.  According to USG sources in Erbil, there is a general 
shortage of housing in Erbil.  Investors, many of whom are 
reportedly backed mainly by the Barzani family, are investing 
in higher-end projects, such as Dream City, a 1,400-unit 
planned community with prices averaging around $300,000 per 
home.  At the other end of the spectrum, internally displaced 
persons (IDPs) returning to Erbil are finding it difficult to 
find affordable housing, as are young middle-class people who 
are looking for more independence through living away from 
their extended families. 
KHALILZAD 

Latest source of this page is cablebrowser-2, released 2011-10-04