Tag Archives: Turkmenistan

HRW criticises Turkmenistan deal

APRIL 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticised the European Union for pressing ahead with its negotiations to extend a trade deal with Turkmenistan despite no tangible progress in the country’s human rights record. “The Turkmen government has done almost nothing to meet the human rights benchmarks,” said Rachel Denber, deputy Central Asia director at HRW.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Berdy says time to stop Turkmen government subsidies for utilities

APRIL 11 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – At a government meeting, Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov appeared to suggest the unimaginable. He said he wanted to scrap state subsidies for gas, electricity, water and salt.

And, unscoring the growing economic pressure in Turkmenistan, Mr Berdymukhamedov also sacked the ministers for economic development and foreign economic relations as well as the head of the tax administration.

Mr Berdymukahmedov has now sacked six top government officials this year.

With little accurate economic data coming out of Turkmenistan, the quick succession of sackings and the musing over cutting government subsidies suggest that the Turkmen economy, which is so heavily reliant on gas sales, is listing heavily.

Government subsidies of utilities is one of its cornerstone policies. They have been in place since 1993, although Mr Berdymukhamedov floated the idea of cutting the subsidies through the Council of Elders last year. The Council of Elders is a traditional Turkmen advisory body although it has been co-opted over the past two decades to test the opinions of the president with the public.

Now, though, according to press reports, Mr Berdymukhamedov has openly discussed cutting the subsidies for the first time.

“This is no longer justifiable from an economic point of view. It is hindering our transition to a market economy and imposing an additional burden on the budget,” he said.

There is no publicly available data which shows just how much the government spends each year on subsidises for gas, electricity, salt and water for the 5.5m people who live in Turkmenistan.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Turkmenistan to build new power line

APRIL 12 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan is looking to build an electricity transmission line to Pakistan and Tajikistan, President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said at a government meeting. The ministry of energy said it is also ready to increase electricity supply to Iran and Afghanistan. Turkmenistan is building three more gas-fired power stations.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

ADB says that Turkmenistan’s TAPI pipeline is ‘doable’

APRIL 8 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said it will support infrastructure projects in Turkmenistan, including the $10b TAPI gas pipeline and also rail and electricity links to neighbouring countries.

Over the next two years, the ADB plans to invest around $1b on construction of railway corridors and the production and supply of electricity.

On TAPI, the pipeline that should, if all goes to plan, pump Turkmen gas to India through Afghanistan and Pakistan by 2019, the ADB delivered a determined, positive endorsement.

“We’re going through some of the toughest territory in Afghanistan, so the challenge is there. There’s no doubt about it,” Sean O’Sullivan, director for Central Asia at the ADB, told Reuters the day after a $200m investment deal was signed for TAPI between its key shareholders — Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India.

“But I am sure it’s doable.”

The ADB has been a staunch defender of the TAPI pipeline, which many analysts have said is too complicated to pull off successfully, and advised the partners on the financing of the $10b project.

Previously, the ADB pulled funding from the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Tajikistan railway link, because of security concerns. Now, by saying that TAPI is “doable”, Mr O’Sullivan is effectively giving the ADB’s endorsement to the project, despite ongoing doubts on security guarantees.

In the meantime, construction work continued on TAPI, with Turkmen officials triumphantly announced that they had finished welding the first kilometre of the pipeline.

The other countries have reportedly started construction work too.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 276, published on April 15 2016)

Turkmenistan introduces pre-marriage HIV test

APRIL 6 2016 (The Conway Bulletin) – In an effort to combat the spread of HIV, Turkmenistan introduced mandatory tests for couples seeking to obtain a marriage licence. By making it a requirement, the Turkmen government is effectively banning HIV-positive people from getting married. Human rights groups have said that this is a violation of personal choice and freedom. Turkmenistan discloses little data on HIV infections.

ENDS