D. FAYZULLAYEV

Candidate of Economic Sciences

At the end of 2006, a change of leadership took place in Turkmenistan, caused by the death of the first President of the republic, S. Niyazov. This event not only shocked Turkmenistan, but also caused a great response in neighboring Central Asian states and beyond. Such a reaction is quite natural: during the many years of Turkmenbashi's rule, all power was concentrated in his hands, and the country was practically isolated from the outside world.

At the same time, the interest of the leading world powers in cooperation with Turkmenistan has always been great and was determined both by the presence of significant gas reserves on the territory of the republic and its role in the geopolitical configuration of the Central Asian region as a whole.

That is why such an unexpected change of power in Turkmenistan has raised many questions and doubts about the future of the republic. The uncertainty of the situation was primarily due to the coming to power of a new president, Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who was little known in broad political circles.

What will be its political and economic course? Will it be a continuation of President Niyazov's policy, or will it be adjusted? What will be the vector of the new course-closer cooperation within the CIS or rapprochement with Western countries?

Only time could answer these questions.

SETTING PRIORITIES

The foreign policy priorities of the new Turkmen leadership were outlined almost immediately after the election of the new president. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov made his first working trip in the new status to Russia in April 2007.

The Russian leadership, in turn, has stepped up cooperation with Turkmenistan in all areas. Moscow is striving to reach a fundamentally new level of partnership, both political and economic, not limited to cooperation in the fuel and energy sector.

The foundation for such cooperation was laid during the working visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Turkmenistan on May 11-12, 2007. It was sealed by the fundamental documents signed at that time. These are the Joint Statement of the Presidents of Russia and Turkmenistan on the full expansion of equal and mutually beneficial Russian-Turkmen cooperation in various fields based on the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation between the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan of April 23, 2002, the Joint Declaration of the Presidents of Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan on the construction of the Caspian gas pipeline, the Joint Declaration of the Uzbekistan on the development of gas transmission capacities in the Central Asian region, which implies, first of all, the reconstruction of the existing gas transmission system.

The implementation of these agreements will certainly strengthen Russia's position as represented by Gazprom in the Central Asian gas market, where the Russian company is still one of the leading players.

The new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev made one of the first official visits to Turkmenistan on July 4-5, 2008, which demonstrated the importance of this foreign policy direction for Russia.

The extensive program of the Russian delegation's visit goes far beyond fuel and energy cooperation and includes discussions on the development of such areas as transport within the framework of the North-South international transport corridor (ITC), development of industrial cooperation, humanitarian cooperation, etc. All this confirms that over the past two years, Russian-Turkmen relations have indeed acquired a new quality.

Currently, 113 enterprises with Russian capital are operating in Turkmenistan, and 116 projects and contracts with Russian companies are being implemented.1
The volume of Russian-Turkmen trade turnover in 2007 amounted to $ 4 billion 853 million (including natural gas exports). At the same time, trade turnover grew by 38.5% in just one year2. Of course, a significant share is accounted for by the export of Turkmen natural gas, and the share of industrial and agricultural goods is still relatively small, although there is a certain growth dynamics (2006 - $ 307.6 million, 2007 - $ 429.1 million).)3.

Textiles, textiles and footwear (45.2%), as well as rubber (21.2%), mineral products (15.4%), machinery, equipment and vehicles (11.4%), and chemical industry products (6.3%)took the leading place in Turkmen exports .4
In general, the share of Turkmenistan in the total volume of trade turnover between Russia and the CIS countries is still very small and in 2006 amounted to only 0.6%*.

TEK-INTERACTION CONSTANT

Cooperation in the fuel and energy sector is the foundation of Russian-Turkmen relations.-

* Traditionally, energy exports and imports are not included in the structure of trade turnover, but are presented separately.

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Turkmenistan's natural gas supply plan to Gazprom under the contract dated 10.04.03 (bcm)

Year

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009 - 2028

Scope of deliveries

5 - 6

6 - 7

10

60 - 70

63 - 73

70 - 80

The data are taken from the Agreement between the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan on cooperation in the gas industry of April 10, 2003.

This is confirmed by the above-mentioned statistics and new agreements in the gas sector.

The basis of the Russian-Turkmen partnership in this area is the interstate Agreement on cooperation in the gas sector of April 10, 2003 with a validity period of 25 years (up to 2028 inclusive). The contract provides for the purchase of Turkmen gas in increasing volumes by the Russian state-owned company Gazexport LLC from the State Customs Committee Turkmenneftegaz.

Initially, the scheme of natural gas supply under this contract was as follows::

However, the implementation of this contract is not easy, which is due to the sharply increased demand for" blue fuel " on the world market in recent years. This leads to a constant increase in the price of natural gas.

Since the signing of the contract, both parties have been conducting an almost continuous negotiation process on the issue of determining the price.

Thus, the contract signed in 2003 turned from a document defining in detail the terms of gas supply into a kind of framework agreement on the fundamental readiness of the parties to participate in the process of buying and selling natural gas for a specified period. And this is absolutely natural, since it reflects the current, rapidly changing situation in the global fuel and energy market, where the conclusion of long-term contracts only leads to problems between the contracting parties.

Thus, in accordance with the addendum to the contract signed in November 2007, 50 billion cubic meters of gas were delivered to Russia in 2008 at a price of $ 130 in the first half of the year and $ 150 in the second half of the year. in the second 5. Starting from January 1, 2009, the price of Turkmen gas, as well as all Central Asian gas, will be determined in accordance with global trends for this type of fuel. The increase in gas purchases in Central Asia, primarily from Turkmenistan, has sharply exacerbated a long-standing problem - the need to modernize and expand the Central Asian gas transmission system. However, it was not until 2007 that an agreement was reached on this issue.The negotiation path to consensus was very difficult, taking into account both the complex relations between the States of the region and the existing problems in relations between a number of Central Asian States and Russia.

The idea of building a Caspian gas pipeline is not new. It was initiated back in 2003 by S. Niyazov. It was assumed that the gas pipeline would run along the Caspian coast - 360 km through Turkmen territory and 150 km through Kazakhstan, in order to connect with the Central Asia-Center gas pipeline at the Alexandrov Guy point on the Kazakh-Russian border. The capacity of this gas pipeline was supposed to be 30 billion cubic meters. m, and the construction cost was estimated at 1 billion rubles. USD 6

The current planned capacity of the Caspian gas pipeline is significantly less than the 10 billion cubic meters proposed in 2003.7.

Russia's overall strategy aimed at modernizing the Central Asian gas transmission system as a whole played a role in the positive decision to build the Caspian gas pipeline. In addition to the construction of a new pipeline, the reconstruction of the Central Asia - Center system is an integral part of the project.

It is expected that it will be implemented in two stages. According to the head of the Ministry of Industry and Energy V. Khristenko, at the first stage (2009-2010), the volume of pumping is planned to increase by 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year. At the second stage (2011 - 2016 - 2018 It is planned to increase the capacity of the gas pipeline system by another 20 billion cubic meters. Thus, in general, the capacity of the Central Asia - Center gas transmission system may grow by 30 billion cubic meters. and reach 100 billion cubic meters by 2020 (together with the Caspian gas pipeline), compared to the current 60 billion cubic meters.8 This will be enough to transport both the growing volumes of Turkmen gas, as well as Kazakh and Uzbek gas to Europe.

It was assumed that the feasibility studies of both projects would be agreed upon

Russia and Turkmenistan came to the conclusion that it is necessary to conclude additional agreements to the main contract that determine the volume and price of gas supplied for a certain period (usually no more than one year).

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They were signed before September 1, 2007, and their direct implementation was supposed to begin in the first half of the year (reconstruction of the Central Asia - Center system) and the second half of the year (the Caspian Gas pipeline) in 2008. However, even the feasibility studies of the projects have not yet been agreed upon.

But they are under the close attention of the Russian leadership. During Dmitry Medvedev's first foreign visits, namely to Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, one of the main topics was the discussion of the signed agreements in the fuel and energy sector.

The Central Asian states, primarily Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, are also considering other projects to transport their own hydrocarbons to world markets. This, in particular, is evidenced by the statement of the President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov at the signing of the agreement on the construction of the Caspian gas pipeline, that the issue of the Trans-Caspian pipeline has not been removed from the agenda 9, although the possibilities for its implementation are currently small.

The presence of the largest Russian producer of pipes for the oil and gas industry, Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK), in the Turkmen market is closely linked to cooperation in this area. Since the end of 2007, a representative office of this company has been operating in Turkmenistan, implementing a contract signed in the same year with the state concern Turkmenneft for the supply of 70 km (10 thousand tons) of large-diameter main pipes. The total amount of the contract is $ 19.7 million. TMK's products are used in the construction of the Malay-Bagdiyarlyk 10 domestic gas pipeline.

At the same time, the pace of development of Turkmenistan's oil and gas sector, as well as the signed agreements on the construction of the Caspian gas pipeline and the reconstruction of the Central Asian gas transmission system, allow us to plan the annual shipment of up to 100 thousand tons of pipe products to Turkmenistan.11
POWER MACHINES TO MODERNIZE TURKMEN ELECTRIC POWER INDUSTRY

Cooperation between Russia and Turkmenistan in the fuel and energy sector is not limited to the purchase and sale of natural gas. Cooperation in the electric power industry has been actively developing in recent years.

Currently, Turkmenistan is implementing a program for the development and re-equipment of the energy sector, adopted in 2003 in accordance with the national program "Strategy of Economic, Political and Cultural development of Turkmenistan for the period up to 2020". One of the priorities of this program is to increase electricity generation at existing power plants. This can be achieved by upgrading the equipment of power plants.

Turkmen power engineers are actively assisted in solving this problem by their Russian colleagues, who take part in the reconstruction of the Mary hydroelectric power station located in the south-east of the republic. It is the largest thermal power plant in Turkmenistan, operating on the basis of the Shatlyk gas field and producing more than 80% of the country's electricity.12
The operator of this project was a consortium of Power Machines OJSC, namely, the St. Petersburg company Yarovit Energo, which is part of it. The project is implemented within the framework of the agreement between the Governments of Turkmenistan and St. Petersburg on economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation, signed in February 2004 during the visit to Ashgabat of the Russian delegation headed by the Governor of St. Petersburg V. Matvienko. Financing of the ongoing works is carried out at the expense of the Ministry of Energy and Industry of Turkmenistan.

The Maryskaya GRES modernization project provides for the renewal of auxiliary turbine equipment, supply of transformers, repair of boilers and modernization of generators.

The projected results of the modernization of the power plant are impressive: after the reconstruction of all eight power units, the overall increase in their capacity can be compared with the installation of another turbine 13.

The choice of a St. Petersburg company to perform the above-mentioned works is not accidental. All eight turbines of Maryskaya GRES were manufactured at the Leningrad Metal Plant in 1973-1987. During such a long period of operation, some units of power units have reduced their production potential, which affects the overall capacity of the turbines. Obviously, it is much easier for the manufacturer to improve productivity and upgrade equipment.

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In early 2006, Russian specialists completed the modernization of the first power unit of the plant, which was extended for 20 years, and its capacity increased from 200 to 223 MW, which allows an additional 150 - 170 million kWh of electricity per year. The cost of this project was $ 13.3 million. 14

Currently, a contract for the reconstruction of the second power unit of Maryskaya GRES is being prepared for signing. In addition, within the framework of the signed cooperation agreement, Russian power engineers installed an automatic control system for recording the main parameters of power units, as well as modern diagnostic and measuring equipment; supplied repair equipment and a set of spare parts to ensure planned repairs. In turn, Turkmen specialists were trained at the plants of Power Machines LLC 15.

Russian-Turkmen cooperation in the electric power industry is not limited to the modernization of Maryskaya GRES. A project for the reconstruction of the Turkmenbashi CHPP is already being developed. In addition, Yarovit Energo held an exhibition and presentation in Ashgabat dedicated to the reconstruction of power units of gas turbine power plants in Turkmenistan with the aim of converting them into combined-cycle power plants by adding steam turbines to gas turbines. This will increase their efficiency by 20%, reducing specific fuel consumption by almost 40%. The pilot project is expected to be implemented at the old power units of the Abadan HPP. This presentation was held within the framework of the Russian National Exhibition in Turkmenistan, held in August 2008. 16

TRANSPORT COOPERATION

Recently, transport cooperation between Russia and Turkmenistan has noticeably intensified and is becoming one of the most priority areas of cooperation. This is also confirmed by the fact that the share of machinery, equipment and vehicles in the structure of Russian imports to the republic is about 50%.

Interaction in the transport sector is characterized by two development vectors: internal and external. The most significant position in the domestic transport market is occupied by the Russian company KamAZ, which supplies Turkmenistan with a variety of cars and special equipment on the KAMAZ chassis for many sectors of the national economy.

Starting from May 2006, when the contract for the supply of KAMAZ products was signed, until the end of 2007, more than 1,000 units of various KamAZ vehicles worth more than $ 10 million were delivered to the republic. 17 Note that the equipment produced by the Russian company is designed to work in a sharply continental climate - its temperature regime varies in the range of -45 - +50°C.

In July 2008, a new contract was signed for the supply of KAMAZ vehicles in the amount of $ 8 million. 18

In order to provide warranty and post - warranty car maintenance, two KamAZ service stations were opened in Turkmenistan-in Ashgabat and Balkanabad, and in July 2008, with the participation of the Presidents of Turkmenistan and Russia, the KamAZ training and service center was opened, which housed not only production buildings, but also training facilities designed for training and advanced training qualifications of Turkmen specialists 19.

At present, Turkmenistan is actively involved in interstate cooperation on the formation of the Eurasian Transport Space on the basis of the North - South International Transport Corridor (ITC). Turkmenistan is not yet a member of the North - South Transport Corridor. However, based on the discussed and already implemented projects in the field of transport, it is highly likely that Ashgabat will join this organization.

This is evidenced by the Russian-Turkmen agreement currently being finalized on the operation of a railway and ferry service between Turkmenistan and Russia in two directions: Turkmen-Bashi - port Olya (Russia) and Turkmenbashi - Makhachkala (Russia). The ports of Olya and Makhachkala are key transport hubs for both Russia and the North-South International Transport Corridor on the Caspian coast20.

At the same time, in December 2007 divisions of the Ministry of Railway Transport of Turkmenistan started construction of a new railway line "North - South", which will provide international communication between Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran, as well as with other countries of Asia and Europe in general. This corridor will connect the transport systems of these countries and allow them to increase their cargo turnover and trade turnover with the Persian Gulf states several times.

The main line will run from Uzen station in Kazakhstan to Gyzylgaya, Bereket and Etrek stations (on the border with Iran) in Turkmenistan, and at Gorgan station it will connect to the Iranian railway network. According to preliminary calculations, the annual volume of transportation of own and transit cargo will amount to 10-12 million tons. The new highway is planned to be built in 4.5 years.21
The length of this corridor in Turkmenistan will be almost 700 km, which is 600 km shorter than the existing Beynau (Kazakhstan) - Turkmenabat - Serakhs highway (on the border with Iran). Thus, the new highway will reduce the transit time of goods in this direction by two days, as well as the cost of customer transportation 22.

Currently, Turkmen builders are laying the northern branch of the 441 km long highway along the Bereket - Gyzylgaya route to the border with Kazakhstan (Uzep station).23. The pace of construction is still slow, which is due to the difficult landscape conditions of a particular route. Construction workers have to make their way through a sandy desert with many meters of dunes and overcome such natural obstacles as the bed of the Uzboy River, deep depressions, mountain formations, as well as vast sparsely populated areas. It is obvious that the development of this region as a whole and the construction of the North - South highway will require a lot of effort and financial costs. Only on the northern section of the highway will be built 19 railway stations and sidings, more than 100 different structures, including railway bridges and mudslides.-

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rekhodov. In 2008, the first 100 km of track was laid in the northern direction 24.

In addition to solving regional transport problems, the North - South highway will play a significant role in creating a new social infrastructure in desert regions and developing the richest reserves of natural resources both in the Caspian region and on the Turkmen-Kazakh border.

In addition to the above-mentioned aspects of Russian-Turkmen cooperation in the transport sector, we should also mention the cooperation in the field of air transport, represented by the Russian airline Sibir, which has been operating regular flights to Ashgabat since February 2006.25

Regional cooperation is an important factor in Russian-Turkmen cooperation. Currently, 59 regions of the Russian Federation maintain active relations with Turkmenistan. The main volume of Russia's foreign trade turnover with Turkmenistan is accounted for by the Central, Volga and Southern Federal Districts, where the main trading partners of Ashgabat in 2007 were Moscow, as well as the Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Samara, Volgograd, Rostov, Perm regions, Krasnodar and Krasnoyarsk Krais26.

Turkmenistan's bilateral cooperation with St. Petersburg, the Astrakhan Region and the Republic of Tatarstan is actively developing. Many joint projects are being implemented in Turkmenistan with the active support and direct participation of these regions.

This applies to the mentioned reconstruction of power plants with the participation of the Power Machines Holding (St. Petersburg), the organization of the Turkmenbashi-Port Olya railway ferry (Astrakhan), and the supply of vehicles by KamAZ (Tatarstan). And this cooperation continues to develop. There are prospects for placing orders for the construction of fishing, tanker and dry cargo fleets for Turkmenistan at the shipyards of Astrakhan and St. Petersburg 27.

The main areas of mutually beneficial partnership between Turkmenistan and Tatarstan in the coming years should be mechanical engineering, geological exploration, petrochemicals and oil production. In particular, the Russian company Tatneft, based in Tatarstan, already held a presentation of its developments and achievements in the field of oil and gas well operation in 2007 with the involvement of researchers from specialized research institutes. At the same time, a group of Turkmen oil workers visited Tatarstan in 2007, where they studied the experience of development and production at oil and gas fields.28
RETURN OF THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

A distinctive feature of the Russian-Turkmen talks held in July 2008 was the close attention shown by both sides to issues of humanitarian cooperation.

Thus, since October 2007, about 80 Turkmen students have been studying at Russian universities on a gratuitous basis, more precisely, at the expense of the Russian company Gazprom, which operates in Turkmenistan.29
As a result of the negotiations, in July 2008, a Memorandum was signed between the Ministries of Culture of Russia and Turkmenistan on TV and radio broadcasting for the period 2008-2010, providing for the broadcasting of Russian TV channels to the Turkmen territory. A protocol was also signed on the establishment of a branch of the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas in Ashgabat, which began its work on September 1, 2008. 30

Construction of a new building of the Russian-Turkmen secondary school named after A. S. Pushkin for 800 academic places is underway in Ashgabat. The construction investor is Gazprom 31.

All this is just the beginning of strengthening interpersonal ties between the Russian and Turkmen peoples, and the return of the Russian language as a language of interethnic communication to Turkmenistan through the educational process, training of professional personnel, and telecommunications facilities. It recreates the fabric of historical, cultural, linguistic, and human ties that have linked the Russian and Turkmen peoples for many years.

* * *

Over the past two years, Russian-Turkmen relations have not only noticeably intensified, but also reached a new qualitative level - a level of cooperation that is not limited to the oil and gas sector. This is the result of the efforts of both sides, but it should be noted that Moscow is focused on large-scale cooperation with Turkmenistan, which ultimately leads to the achievement of the most important geopolitical goal - restoring Russia's position in the Central Asian region as a whole.

1 Press statement on the results of the talks between President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, 04.07.08 - www.kremlin.ru

2 Russian-Turkmen cooperation (materials of the Russian National Exhibition in Turkmenistan, August 2008) - www.turkmenistan.expoclub.ru

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid.

Haitun A. 6 Novy gazovy alyans [New Gas Alliance]. Nezavisimaya gazeta, 22.05.07.

Rubanov I. 7 Not by right of force // Expert, N 19 (560), 21.05.07. P. 5.

Aliev A. 8 Sredneaziatskiy gazovy kozyr [Central Asian gas trump]. Expert on-line, 14.05.07.

Rubanov I. 9 Ne po pravo sila [Not by the right of force] ... p. 7.

10 TMK develops cooperation with Turkmenistan (press release of JSC "Pipe Metallurgical Company" dated March 7, 2008) - www.tmkgroup.ru

11 Ibid.

12 Power Machines turbine commissioned at Maryskaya GRES in Turkmenistan (press release of Power Machines OJSC dated 06.05.06.) - www.power-m.ru

13 Ibid.

14 Ibid.

15 Ibid.

16 Russian-Turkmen cooperation...

17 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Medvedev and President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov attended the opening of the KamAZ training and Service Center, 05.07.08 - www.kremlin.ru

18 Ibid.

19 Ibid.

20 Joint Russian-Turkmen Statement adopted by President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev and President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in Ashgabat on 4 July 2008. - www.kremlin.ru

21 Press release of the Press Service of the President of Turkmenistan dated 01.12.07 - www.turkmenist.an.gov.tm

22 Ibid.

23 Ibid.

24 Ibid.

25 Russian-Turkmen cooperation...

26 Ibid.

27 Ibid.

28 Ibid.

29 Ibid.

30 Press statement on the results of the Russian-Turkmen talks by the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev, 04.07.08 - www.kremlin.ru

31 Ibid.

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