Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Dec.23 /Trend, H.Hasanov/
Turkmenistan and Russia are not rivals in gas business, they are equal partners, local media reports commenting on Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov's planned visit to Russia on Friday.
"As the world's energy states with solid reserves of hydrocarbon resources, Turkmenistan and Russia are not rivals, but equal partners in gas business," Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary state news service reports expressing Ashgabat's official position.
Russian companies are involved in the modernization of Turkmenistan's energy sector, development strategy of which includes increase in raw materials production and supplies to world markets, as well as increasing processing industry capacities, including petrochemical production.
Thus, in accordance with a production sharing agreement signed by the State Agency for Hydrocarbon Resources Management and Use under the President of Turkmenistan, the Russian company Itera operates on offshore Block 21 in the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.
Another example is the construction of Central Karakum-Yilanly gas pipeline, implemented within a contract signed by Turkmengas state concern and Russian MRK-Inziniring, which is included in Itera group of companies. Commissioning of the gas pipeline with length of over 198 kilometers allowed increasing natural gas supplies from Turkmenistan to Russia.
The government report says that "a regular meeting of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will become a new important step towards a comprehensive strengthening and further boosting of bilateral relations, which have character of full-scale strategic cooperation," the report says.
It is emphasized that "an important factor is relations of mutual understanding and confidence between leaders of the two countries, constant willingness of Turkmenistan and Russia to bring the traditional intergovernmental dialogue to a qualitatively new level to meet their mutual priorities".
The priority aspects of bilateral relations, topical issues of regional and international policy of mutual interest are on the agenda.
Turkmenistan has intensified the cooperation with Russian major regions as Tatarstan, St. Petersburg, Astrakhan, Sverdlovsk region and other regions.
Russia ranks a leading position in the ranking of the major foreign trade partners of Turkmenistan. Thus, trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $3.392.4 billion (including the export of Turkmen goods to Russia amounted to $2.683.5 billion and imports amounted to $708.9 million), in 10 months of 2011, which is 28 percent more compared the same period in 2010.