Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, June 21
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who arrived in Dushanbe on June 20 with a working visit, met with the Chief Executive Officer of Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah, the "Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary" state agency reported.
One of the topics of the meeting was the partnership in the fuel and energy sector, in particular, the implementation of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project (TAPI), the commissioning of which will have a positive impact on the socio-economic development of the region.
The creation of transport corridors and a large electric power infrastructure are among the promising projects, said the agency report.
In this context, the Turkmen leader noted that, the power line of Rabat-Kashan-Kalayi-Nau will be launched in the forthcoming days and will expand the supply of electricity to the neighboring country.
Abdullah Abdullah expressed gratitude for the assistance in the stable development of Afghanistan. The Turkmen section of TAPI began to be built in December 2015, and the Afghan section - in February this year. It is expected that Turkmen gas can be delivered through TAPI within 2019.
The total length of the pipeline, with a capacity of 33 billion cubic meters of gas per year will be 1840 kilometers till the village of Fazilka on the border with India. Being the leader of the international consortium TAPI Pipeline Company Limited, "Turkmengas" - having a controlling stake - performs the functions of the main financier and manager of the project. The consortium also includes the Afghan Gas Corporation, Pakistan’s Inter State Gas Systems (Private) Limited Company and India’s GAIL Company.
The consortium continues active negotiations with all interested parties with the participation of the Asian Development Bank. Various options for participation in the project are being explored, such as participation in the company's share, project financing, financing through international development banks and through export credit agencies from around the world.