Putin to visit Turkmenistan

By Azernews

By Kamila Aliyeva

Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay an official visit to Turkmenistan on October 2.

Putin will pay a visit to Ashgabat upon the invitation of Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, according to the message of the Turkmen government.

Key issues of development of bilateral cooperation in political, trade-economic, scientific-educational and cultural-humanitarian spheres between the two countries will be considered at the meeting, the Kremlin press service reported.

In addition, the leaders of the two countries will discuss topical regional problems.

Following the high-level talks, a solid package of bilateral documents aimed at further activating and building up a mutually beneficial partnership in priority areas is expected to be signed.

Turkmenistan and Russia have close positions on such important issues of the global agenda as the preservation and maintenance of universal peace and stability, countering the threats of international terrorism, extremism, disarmament issues and the settlement of the situation in Afghanistan.

Both countries cooperate effectively in a wide range of areas, including the trade and economic sphere, energy and transport and communication sectors as well as the agro-industrial complex.

Russia holds a leading position in the ranking of Turkmenistan’s biggest foreign trade partners. In recent years, cooperation at the regional level has intensified, including with Tatarstan, St. Petersburg, Astrakhan, Sverdlovsk regions of Russia.

More than 190 enterprises with the participation of Russian capital are registered in the Turkmen market, and they execute more than 240 investment projects.

Gas supply was one of the strategic areas of partnership between Turkmenistan and Russia until recently.  But in 2016, Russia - a traditional buyer - has stopped the purchase of Turkmen gas.

In 2015 bilateral trade volume between two countries decreased by 21 percent to $0.97 billion compared to $1.23 billion in 2014. Turkmen exports to Russia fell to $0.07 billion (by 20 percent) while imports fell to $0.90 billion (by 21 percent).