MARCH 15 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) — The Asian Development Bank (ADB) agreed to lend Turkmenistan $125m for work on building part of a railway that will link Central Asia with the Persian Gulf. This is the first ADB loan to Turkmenistan and shows businesses are increasingly willing to do deals with Ashgabat.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 32, published on March 21 2011)
MARCH 2 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan has agreed to boost by 50% the amount of gas it supplies to China, China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on its website. The deal for Turkmenistan to supply China with 60b cubic metres of gas a year will be finalised in the second half of 2011, the NDRC said.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 30, published on March 7 2011)
FEB. 20 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – During a week-long visit to China by Turkmenistan’s deputy PM Maisa Yazmuhammedova, China’s state councillor Liu Yandong thanked Turkmenistan for its support over Chinese policy towards Taiwan, Tibet and Uyghur separatists in the west of the country.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 28, published on Feb. 21 2011)
JAN. 24 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Kazakhstan’s GDP will grow by 4-5% in 2011 against an earlier forecast rise of 3.1%, media quoted economy minister Zhanar Aitzhanova as saying. Inflation in Turkmenistan was 4.8% in 2010, Reuters quoted the state statistics agency as saying.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 24, published on Jan. 24 2011)
JAN. 13/5 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso visited Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to try to persuade them to supply gas to Europe through planned routes running from the Caspian Sea across the South Caucasus. EU officials said Azerbaijan had committed to supplying gas and that Turkmenistan had pledged closer cooperation in 2011.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 23, published on Jan. 17 2011)
JAN. 11 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov sacked the head of the country’s gas company, Dovlet Mommayev, after only 3 months in the job, media reported quoting state TV. Amanali Khanaliyev, previously head of building pipelines, is the new head of Turkmengaz.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 23, published on Jan. 17 2011)
JAN. 11 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan gas production rose by 16.5% in 2010, deputy prime minister Baymurad Khojamukhamedov said on TV. Turkmenistan rarely releases data on gas production although last year it did say it wanted to boost production to 100b cubic metres, an increase of 30%.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 23, published on Jan. 17 2011)
JAN. 10 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – Iran’s Interior Minister, Mostafa Mohammad Najjar, said he wanted the country to establish itself as an energy transit corridor between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf, media reported. Mr Najjar made the comments during an official trip to Oman.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 22, published on Jan. 11 2011)
JAN. 5 2011 (The Conway Bulletin) – The President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, said he will visit Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan from Jan. 13 – Jan. 15 to persuade them to commit to the proposed Nabucco gas pipeline. The $11b Nabucco pipeline is key to Europe’s plan to reduce its reliance on Russia for energy.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 22, published on Jan. 11 2011)
DEC. 21 2010 (The Conway Bulletin) – Turkmenistan suspended the operations of a local subsidiary of Russian mobile operator MTS for one month. Media reported around 80% of Turkmenistan’s mobile phone users have a contract with Barash Communications Technologies Inc., the MTS subsidiary. The Turkmen government did not give a reason for the suspension.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 21, published on Jan. 4 2011)