Russia sees great transit potential of Turkmenistan in the Caspian
Turkmenistan has a large maritime transit potential in the Caspian Sea, primarily for coastal states, and it should be used in the strategy of development of the Caspian ports. This is the opinion of the Executive Director of the Russian-Turkmen Business Council of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation Konstantin Evgrafov.
In his opinion, at present the Turkmen side is focusing on the transit of goods, which is due to the geographical location of the state, and the economic conditions under which it is beneficial for Turkmen partners to sign foreign exchange contracts.
Evgrafov stressed that now Turkmenistan is building a new sea gate in the Caspian Sea - the Turkmenbashi International Sea Port and a new international airport began to work in the Turkmen capital a year ago.
According to the Executive Director of the Russian-Turkmen Business Council of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Russia should take these factors into consideration and include Turkmen transit opportunities in the development plans for the activities of the Caspian ports.
He also noted a gradual increase in mutual trade turnover and the number of companies operating in Turkmenistan with Russian participation.
According to the Turkmen State Statistics Committee, in January-September of 2017, exports from Turkmenistan to Russia amounted to 119.5 million US dollars, an increase of 35.6% over the same period last year.
During this time, Russian goods were imported to the country in the amount of $313 million.
