Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, June 29 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has received a Ukrainian government delegation consisting of the Minister of Energy and Mines Yuri Boyko and Foreign Minister Konstantin Grishenko, the Turkmen government said today.
The issue of establishing closer cooperation in oil and gas industry were discussed at the meeting.
According to the information, there are great opportunities in this sphere given the needs of the Ukrainian market in the stable supply of Turkmen natural gas and rich resources. It steadily implements a strategy to diversify export routes for its energy resources to the world markets.
In his letter to his Turkmen counterpart published in the local media on Friday, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych also stressed that a high level of a political dialogue between the countries which is developing dynamically on the basis of mutual trust and respect, is a solid foundation for further intensification of the whole complex of bilateral relations for the benefit of the people of Ukraine and Turkmenistan.
Ukrainian media previously reported citing Boyko that Kiev is considering a variant of importing about five billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas a year. It was also stressed that, in exchange for gas, Turkmenistan is ready to consider the participation of Ukrainian companies in the implementation of infrastructure projects.
"However, such an arrangement requires Russia's permission to use its pipelines," the information said.
Ukraine hopes for direct supplies of Turkmen gas which can be delivered through the main Central Asia-Center (CAC) gas pipeline passing through the territory of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia and is controlled by the Russian company Gazprom.
Currently, the CAC does not fully work. Russia under the influence of the global recession has reduced the purchase of up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas since 2010, which is four times less than in 2008. Experts stress that Gazprom traditionally buys Turkmen gas for its re-export to Europe, including Ukraine.
Turkmenistan has previously stated about its readiness to supply the CAC in the same volume, but this issue remains open. According to Kiev, the CIS free trade zone agreement includes an item that envisages the equal access to gas transportation capacity of the CIS countries.
Ukrainian companies are interested in the implementation of Turkmenistan's important infrastructure projects of national importance such as gas pipelines and in particular the East- West and international on the route 'Turkmenistan - Afghanistan - Pakistan - India (TAPI).
General contractor of the East-West is the Turkmengaz state concern. This pipeline is being laid to unite the fields in the east with the western part bordering with the Caspian Sea, where it may be possible to reach the world markets - to Europe via the Caspian Sea and Russia.
Regarding TAPI, Ashgabat has been operating to enhance the project. In particular, Turkmenistan has proposed holding inter-Afghan peace talks under the auspices of UN, as Afghanistan is an important transit country.
Moreover, gas purchase-sale agreements have been recently signed with Islamabad and Delhi. A memorandum of understanding has been signed with Kabul.