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Russia's leading research institute talks COVID-19 impact on Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan Materials 20 October 2020 14:19 (UTC +04:00)
Russia's leading research institute talks COVID-19 impact on Turkmenistan

BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 20

By Jeila Aliyeva - Trend:

Turkmenistan, along with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and a number of Island States (the Republic of Kiribati, the Kingdom of Tonga), has declared that there are no cases of infection with the COVID – 19 in the country, head of the Central Asia sector at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of Russian Academy of Sciences (IMEMO RAS), Dina Malysheva told Trend.

"And since the government denies the presence of COVID-19 cases, nothing is said about the impact of the coronavirus on the economy. Moreover, according to Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, the economy of Turkmenistan has maintained stable development even during the global crisis caused by the pandemic," Malysheva added, explaining that according to the State Statistics Committee of Turkmenistan, Turkmenistan increased exports of certain goods (sulfur, mineral fertilizers, raw silk, iodine, clothing, finished textiles) by 8 percent from January through July of this year.

Meanwhile, she adds that a certain negative impact on the country was still exerted, in particular, due to the coronavirus restrictions imposed by many countries.

The crisis also affected the gas industry of Turkmenistan due to a sharp drop in oil and gas prices in the world, she said.

"Given that the oil and gas industry is the backbone of Turkmenistan's economy (77.8 percent of exports and 22 percent of Turkmenistan's GDP are accounted for hydrocarbon resources), fall in world oil/gas prices has led to a reduction in actual budget revenues and expenditures," she said.

She also added that due to the increase in the time and cost of cargo transportation, Turkmenistan has problems in the air transportation market.

"Turkmenistan's trade turnover with its main trading partners (Russia, Turkey, the UAE, Iran, etc.), from which Turkmenistan purchased technological equipment, ferrometals, and chemical products, has slowed down," she explained.

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