Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, May 26 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Kakageldi Abdyllaev has been appointed as Acting Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources in Turkmenistan. Earlier, he was Deputy Chairman of the State Concern "Turkmengaz", the official Turkmen source said today.
The corresponding decree was signed by Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. According to another decree Former Minister - Bayramgeldi Nedirov was dismissed for serious shortcomings in the work.
According to the Turkmen TV on Saturday, the Turkmen President dismissed Nedirov because he did not control the implementation of specific tasks.
The Ministry must conduct analytical work and prepare the perspective plans and long-term oil and gas sector development programs. The Ministry coordinates the activity and determines the oil and gas industry development strategy.
According to BP's report on natural gas reserves in the world, Turkmenistan ranks fourth after Russia, Iran and Qatar.
Ashgabat has recently managed to reach the major alternative routes. Earlier, Russia bought almost the entire volume of export Turkmen gas. A gas pipeline to China was commissioned in December 2009. Additional capacity in the direction of neighboring Iran appeared later.
The additional gas pipeline to Russia (Caspian - via Kazakhstan), to Europe (Nabucco via the Caspian Sea through Azerbaijan) and India (Trans-Afghan via Pakistan) are being discussed.