On 9 October President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov met with Chief of Staff of the Russian Federal government Konstantin Chuychenko and “Gazprom” CEO Aleksey Miller.
The key topic of negotiations was resuming Turkmen gas imports by “Gazprom” starting from 1 January 2019, within the framework of the cooperation agreement in the gas industry up to 2028 which was signed in 2003.
Moreover, according to the state information agency TDH, Russia expressed interest in carrying out joint projects in gas processing and development of gas-to-chemicals.
Chief of Staff of the Russian Federal government Konstantin Chuychenko
In an interview to the Turkmen news outlet to sum up the outcomes of negotiations Konstantin Chuychenko said: “in late December the so-called Gazprom’s “commercial break” will be finished.
The Russian company as a legal entity is currently working on further development of relationships with the Turkmen side. Upon return to Moscow, we will make relevant proposals to Russian companies to actively review the opportunities in participating in major energy-related projects in Turkmenistan, including in advanced gas processing, setting up new manufacturing facilities etc”.
“Gazprom” President Aleksey Miller
Aleksey Miller explained a break in Turkmen gas imports by “a commercial pause which will end in late 2018”. According to Gazprom CEO, Turkmen gas supplies are expected to be resumed starting from 1 January 2019.
“The present-day business environment is very positive.Our key agreement for the time being is to embark on detail-oriented negotiations on resuming Turkmen gas supplies until the end of the year in close collaboration with our Turkmen colleagues. As regards the volumes of gas imports and other issues pertaining to contractual obligations, the technical talks will be held later today.
We expect these agreements to be reached in a short-term perspective”, the CEO of the Russian gas company emphasized.
The previous day President Berdymukhammedov had a telephone conversation with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
In late July 2018, two weeks before the signing of the Convention on the legal status of the Capisan Sea in Aktau Russia’s Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky said Russia might resume negotiations with Turkmenistan on gas imports.
Let us recall that in February 2018 Yanovskiy said that Russia had no intentions to resume Turkmen gas imports until the end of 2019.
Let us recall that in 2015 “Turkmengaz” said that “Gazprom” had not settled payments and announced the Russian holding insolvent.
In response, “Gazprom” filed a lawsuit to Stockholm Court of Arbitration demanding that price for Turkmen gas supplies be reviewed and $5 billion of overpaid amount be refunded.
In early 2016 “Gazprom” halted the import of Turkmen gas and later the same year signed the gas supply contract with “Uzbekneftegaz”.