Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Nov. 21 / Trend H.Hasanov /
Turkmen President Gurbangulu Berdimuhammedov is expected to visit Italy at the end of November, the Altyn Asyr television channel reported today.
"The upcoming Turkmen-Italian talks designed to bring the intergovernmental partnership to a qualitatively new level corresponding to its potential," the president was quoted as saying by the television channel.
According to Berdimuhammedov, the meetings with representatives of major Italian business to be held during his visit will identify promising areas to build mutually beneficial business contacts.
"This visit will be an important step towards further expansion of the constructive Turkmen-EU dialogue, which recently has became more active," he said.
Italy's leading oil and gas company Eni began to operate in Turkmenistan in 2008, when it managed to buy a controlling stake in Burren Energy plc (United Kingdom).
Eni's main competitors in the fight for the deal were the Korea National Oil Corporation and Adani Welspun Exploration Limited. Thus, the company gained access to the development of the Burun Square Nebit-Dag (western Turkmenistan) contract area. The company extracts 12,000 barrels of oil per day from the area.
Eni has expressed long-term interest in the idea of creating a pipeline that would transport gas from the Caspian region to Pakistan and India.
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