Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Oct. 25 / Trend H. Hasanov /
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has congratulated Turkmen president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in connection with the 21st anniversary of Turkmen independence, to be celebrated on October 27.
'I am convinced that further strengthening of bilateral relations meets the fundamental interests of the peoples of our countries and contributes to stability and security in Central Asia', the statement says.
'Multifaceted and mutually beneficial cooperation between Russia and Turkmenistan, based on the traditions of friendship and mutual respect is successfully developed in the trade and economic, scientific and technological, cultural, humanitarian and other areas', the letter said.
According to the Russian side, trade turnover between Russia and Turkmenistan is steadily growing. Taking into account gas supplies in 2011 it reached $4.3 billion. Russia ranks third in Turkmenistan's total turnover for the first three months of 2012. Turnover amounted to $1.235 billion.
Russia and Turkmenistan are the major exporters of natural gas in the CIS. 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.
Russian companies Itera and Zarubezhneft work on one of the blocks in the Caspian Sea under the PSA agreement. Turkmenistan in recent years has stepped up direct cooperation with the regions of Russia such as St. Petersburg, Tatarstan and Astrakhan.
There are about 180 joint ventures in Turkmenistan.