Energy, transport and other tracks of the Turkmen-Russian dialogue - from an interview with the Ambassador of the Russian Federation
Recently appointed Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Turkmenistan Ivan Volynkin, in an interview with a TASS correspondent in Ashgabat, noted significant prospects for cooperation in the economic and humanitarian fields, in particular in the implementation of large-scale joint projects in the fields of energy, transport, communications, ecology, digital economy, education, science, youth exchanges, tourism and sports.
In particular, answering the question about Turkmenistan's accession to the agreement on the North-South International Transport Corridor, the diplomat expressed hope that all the necessary formalities would be completed as soon as possible.
― Connecting Turkmenistan to the ITC "North-South" will reveal the potential of cargo transportation between European countries, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, India with access to the Persian Gulf. Already today, Ashgabat is increasing the transit of goods along the railway section of the corridor, maritime logistics is developing, a project is ready to lay a highway along the Caspian Sea. The creation of multimodal transport corridors on the territory of Turkmenistan makes it one of the key participants in international transit, which will contribute to the development of foreign trade in the Central Asian region and increase the investment attractiveness of the country, Volynkin said.
One of the questions in the interview with the ambassador concerned gas supplies to China. Are Russia and Turkmenistan competitors or partners in this area?
― Our countries are by no means competitors in the field of gas supplies to China, but, on the contrary, work together, saturating the dynamically developing market of the Celestial Empire with blue fuel. Of course, both Russia and Turkmenistan are reliable suppliers of hydrocarbons, while our country supplies gas mainly to the northern and northeastern regions of China, while Turkmenistan supplies gas to the western provinces, Ivan Volynkin replied.
They also discussed a number of other possible joint projects, including in the field of geological exploration, the creation of a passenger express service between Ashgabat and the city of Arkadag. The issue of the visa regime between the two countries was also touched upon, the liberalization of which, according to the ambassador, "may be of mutual interest in the future."
During the conversation, Volynkin said that the two sides are discussing the possibility of opening new air routes between the countries. However, at the moment it is too early to talk about specifics, the ambassador added.
According to him, the financial departments of the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan are also negotiating the possibility of increasing mutual settlements in national currencies. In 2022, a quarter of bilateral foreign trade transactions, excluding payments for gas, were carried out in rubles.
― We expect a further increase in the share of national monetary units in the total volume of counter payments, - Ivan Volynkin said, noting the growth in imports of textiles and food from Turkmenistan.
The expansion of the range of goods eloquently speaks of the prospects for increasing the volume of foreign trade. Last year, the geography of foreign trade turnover included 38 Russian regions, the ambassador specified.
Noting the tight schedule of joint work at the highest, high, departmental, regional and business levels, Volynkin noted that visits to Ashgabat by representatives of St. Petersburg, the Republic of Tatarstan and the Astrakhan region have become traditional. The Chelyabinsk region is actively involved.
― At the same time, each time the agreements following the results of the visits result in new joint projects. In September, we expect the arrival of the Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov and the head of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov to Turkmenistan, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation said.
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