Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Aug.7 / Trend, H. Hasanov /
President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhammadov at a government meeting stressed the constructive nature of the intergovernmental dialogue with Russia, local media outlets reported.
"President Berdimuhammadov stressed constructive international dialogue, reaffirming Turkmenistan's continued commitment to friendly relations and full-scale cooperation with the Russian Federation, which is one of the major strategic partners of our country," the Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.
The state news service Turkmen Dovlet Khabarlary (TDH) stresses the importance of activity of the joint intergovernmental commission, regular meeting of which took place in Moscow recently.
The media quotes Turkmen President, who stressed the necessity of consistent practical implementation of all achieved bilateral agreements that will allow using the existing impressive potential of cooperation and open up new opportunities for diversification of productive interaction".
An increase in total trade turnover indicates the dynamics of relationships. In 2011 compared to 2010 this figure increased by more than 34 percent, in the first half of 2012 the growth hit 41.5 percent. Turkmenistan has registered 186 companies and 206 investment projects with participation of the Russian side.
Trade, fuel and energy sector, power industry, as well as mechanical engineering were called among the priorities of cooperation. The intergovernmental commission's meeting in Moscow considered the possibility of enhancing relations in the field of maritime, air and road transport, fisheries and hydrometeorology.
In autumn of 2012 Ashgabat is scheduled to host an economic forum of the two countries.
In the first half of 2012 an exhibition of Russian commodity producers will be held.
The strategic direction in the relationship between the two countries is with cooperation in the field of fuel and energy. Turkmenistan's gas comes to Russia by the Middle Asia - Centre (CAC) pipeline through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Customer - JSC Gazprom (Russia) signed an agreement with Turkmenistan on gas supplies for 25 years in 2003.
Currently, the CAC does not work at full capacity. Russia under the influence of the global recession has been reducing its quota since 2010 with the purchase of up to 10 billion cubic meters of gas which is four times less than in 2008. Russian companies are participating in the development of hydrocarbon resources in Turkmenistan, Russian Itera and Zarubezhneft where the work is under a production sharing agreement on one of the blocks in the Caspian Sea.