Not by Gas Alone

It is ten years since Ukraine and Turkmenistan established diplomatic relations. The starting point was October 10, 1992: the Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation between Ukraine and Turkmenistan and the Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations signed on that day laid the foundation on which the two sovereign states build their ties. This cooperation notably intensified after Kyiv and Ashgabat had opened their countries’ embassies in 1995. Another important landmark was the signing in May 2001 of the Treaty on Economic Cooperation in 2001-2010, which made our partnership still more stable.

“What unites us is the aspiration to build our relationship on an equal and mutually-advantageous basis,” noted Turkmenistan’s Ambassador to Ukraine, Gildy Bayramov, speaking at an official reception last Thursday. Over the past decades, the two sides have signed more than 90 bilateral documents which laid the legal and standard-setting groundwork for Ukrainian-Turkmenian relations and made it possible to implement joint projects. According to the ambassador, Ukraine has incessantly been Turkmenistan’s No. 1 foreign trade partner in the past two years, accounting for over $1.5 billion in 2001. Ukrainian Vice- Premier Vasyl Rohovy forecasts that the two-way trade will reach about $2 billion this year and there is “a stable tendency” to unimpeded growth.

As is known, Turkmenistan is one of Ukraine’s main natural gas suppliers: last year alone it delivered 30 billion cu. m. of the “blue fuel” worth over $1.2 billion. Mr. Bayramov revealed that as many as 36 billion cu. m. of gas would be supplied to Ukraine in 2003 at the price of $44 per 1000 cu. m. under the agreement reached in early October 2002. Yet, the economic ties of our countries are not confined to gas alone: they are much wider than it may seem at first glance. At present, Ukrainian companies participate in the implementation of 29 almost- $1-billion-worth projects in Turkmenistan. The Turkmenian territory hosts 12 Kyiv enterprises in the field of trade, air transportation, civil engineering, reconstruction of oil and gas facilities, etc. Noting the mutually beneficial nature of cooperation in the sphere of investments, Mr. Rohovy cited concrete examples, such as the Ukraine-aided construction of a drainage and communication tunnel in Ashgabat, a railway bridge over the Amu- Darya, some compressor stations, and gas pipelines. Mr. Bayramov admitted, though, that the presence of Ukrainian capital in the Turkmenian economy is often the continuation of gas contracts which provide for a 50-% payment with goods and services.

It would be wrong to claim there are no problems in the Ukrainian-Turkmenian relations. However, as Mr. Bayramov emphasized, our partnership has reached such a level that we are able to find compromises, “It is very good that we have learned to understand each other. For where there is understanding, there always will be success.”