Turkmenistan ready for energy cooperation with EU on long term and mutually beneficial basis

Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Sept. 21 / Trend H. Hasanov / The European vector of energy policy is important for Turkmenistan, this statement was made at a recent expanded government meeting in Ashgabat, an official Turkmen source said today. It was stressed that mutual interest in expanding the cooperation in the energy sector is stipulated by the EU member states' growing needs for energy resources and Turkmenistan's strategy of diversifying the routes of energy delivery to the world markets. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov said that Turkmenistan is ready to consider the possibility of further cooperation with foreign, including European partners, on long-term, equal and mutually beneficial basis. Not politicizing the energy projects, Ashgabat is ready to sell natural gas on its borders to all interested countries. The positions of Turkmenistan and the EU to develop a mechanism of delivering Turkmen energy resources to Europe were fixed during European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso's visit to Ashgabat in January 2011. A high-level working group was established. It includes officials of all concerned parties. Several talks were held in the European countries and Azerbaijan. Moreover, a meeting was held at the ministerial level with the participation of a Turkish representative in Ashgabat on September 3. It was dedicated to the issues of cooperation in the international energy area. A European Commission source told Trend that the negotiations on the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline will continue in a constructive atmosphere, adding that EU Commissioner on Energy Günther Oettinger's visit to Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan in the early September was held in the context of these discussions. Trans-Caspian gas pipeline running to around 300 kilometres will be laid from the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijani. It will be connected to the "Southern Gas Corridor". Turkmenistan's negotiations with the EU and other countries to construct the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline have been held since late 1990's of last century. The negotiation process has been intensified after the European Union gave a mandate to start negotiations on preparing the agreement on Trans-Caspian project between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan in September 2011. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az