TURKMENISTAN: ASHGABAT’S ENERGY FOCUS MOVES BEYOND MOSCOW

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10/19/09

Agakhanov, says.

Agakhanov described the long-standing gas dispute between the two as
"unlocked." But the envoy stressed that "Turkmenistan, following the
idea of diversification of gas export routes, does not see in Russia
a single partner."

In an exclusive interview with the Russian newspaper Nezavisimaya
Gazeta, Agakhanov insisted bilateral trade between Turkmenistan and
Russia was not hit by the months-long freeze on gas exports following
an April explosion on a key pipeline which Ashgabat accused Gazprom
of orchestrating.

Trade turnover in 2008 amounted to $6 billion, he said. But "trade
between the two countries in January-August 2009 compared with same
period in 2008 [?] amounted to $5.12 billion," he claimed citing an
increase in "goods, technologies and services."

Agakhanov added that Ashgabat’s participation in the European-backed
Nabucco pipeline remains a possibility. But he cautioned competing
Turkmen and Azeri claims of ownership of three Caspian Sea hydrocarbon
blocks could derail the project. "This idea is constrained by a number
of objective and subjective factors," he said on October 19.