Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, March 7
By Huseyn Hasanov – Trend:
The negotiations on gas supply to Europe have been intensified, Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov said at the briefing in Ashgabat.
Big projects on gas supply to China are being implemented, Meredov added, Trend reports referring to the Turkmen Foreign Ministry on March 7.
The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline is being constructed.
In this context, the role of the recently signed Bucharest Declaration on the Caspian Sea - Black Sea Transport Corridor was stressed.
Stressing the significance of these projects and expressing hope for further cooperation with all interested countries and organizations, the minister stressed that while implementing all projects, international legal norms, including the protection of the environment, are taken into account.
Turkmenistan has been considering the possibility of bringing its energy resources to the European market for a long time.
According to one of the options, a 300-kilometer gas pipeline is to be laid through the Caspian Sea, the legal status of which was approved after twenty years of negotiations between the Caspian countries.
Turkmenistan declared its readiness to supply Europe with up to 40 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
Earlier, Ashgabat stressed that the EU expressed readiness to help attract investments in the implementation of this project.
At the same time, the Central-Asia-Center (CAC) gas pipeline system may also potentially be used to supply natural gas from Turkmenistan to Eastern Europe and the CIS countries.
In case of using the fundamental principles of the Energy Charter Treaty and achieving certain agreements with transit countries, the CAC pipeline system may potentially be used to supply natural gas from Turkmenistan to Eastern Europe and the CIS countries.
A number of the UN General Assembly’s resolutions on stable and reliable supply of energy resources to the international markets have been adopted upon Turkmenistan’s initiative.