Ashgabat and Moscow implements policy of mutual understanding and cooperation

Expert Yuri Aronsky commented on the results of Serdar Berdimuhamedov’s official visit to Russia.

The traditionally friendly relations between Turkmenistan and Russia have been confirmed once again. About ten days ago, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov met with the Head of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin in Moscow. The Turkmen politician visited Russia at the invitation of the President of the Russian Federation; this was the first official foreign visit of Serdar Berdimuhamedov to Moscow as head of the state.

In an interview to CentralAsia.news, Yuri Aronsky, an economist, scientist, chairman of the Union of Economists of Turkmenistan, and representative of the Coordinating Council of the International Union of Economists, summed up some results of the foreign policy debut of the Turkmen leader.

Respect. Openness. Confidence

During the talks, a whole range of issues of further bilateral cooperation in the political, trade, economic and humanitarian spheres, as well as regional and international topics were discussed.

The President of Turkmenistan highly appreciated the results of his official visit to the Russian Federation. Thus, the Turkmen leader, in particular, said: «Speaking of our bilateral relations, I would like to emphasize that they are on the rise, developing dynamically and consistently».

At the meeting, it was emphasized that the distinctive features of relations between Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation are equality, mutual respect, openness, trust, and mutual understanding of the importance of further strengthening friendship and cooperation between the two peoples and states.

As a result of the official visit of Serdar Berdimuhamedov to the Russian Federation, a large package of documents was signed in Moscow regulating the development of bilateral cooperation at a new stage of the Turkmen-Russian strategic partnership. 

Among them is the Declaration on deepening strategic partnership, the Agreement between the government of Turkmenistan and the government of the Russian Federation on cooperation in the field of plant quarantine, as well as other bilateral documents on cooperation in trade, economic, transport, construction, scientific, educational, sports and other fields. It should be especially noted that the countries intend to expand their partnership in the field of ensuring international information security.

Wide economic spectrum

«The Russian Federation is one of the major trading partners of Turkmenistan,» — Serdar Berdimuhamedov emphasized at a meeting with Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. The head of Turkmenistan noted that economic cooperation concerns not only energy but also industry, transport, infrastructure construction, and other areas.

— Turkmenistan not only buys a large amount of automotive, marine, and aviation equipment from the Russian Federation, but, of course, provides an opportunity for Russian companies to actively participate in the implementation of economic projects in their country, — said the Turkmen leader.

One of the key sectors of bilateral partnership is traditionally energy, which was given special attention during the talks. In particular, they named Gazprom, which is cooperating with the Turkmengaz company in organizing gas exports from Turkmenistan, LUKOIL, which is negotiating its participation in the development of the Dostluk field in the Caspian Sea as an operator, and Tatneft, which is engaged in the repair and maintenance of oil wells in Turkmenistan. 

Attention was also drawn to the fact that other large Russian energy and industrial companies, Inter RAO and Power Machines, are also showing interest in implementing projects in Turkmenistan.

— We are talking about the modernization and construction of new power plants, including the use of renewable energy sources, the construction of high-voltage power lines, the transit and export of electricity, — said President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

Among the major joint projects in other sectors were the construction of sea vessels, diesel locomotives for Turkmenistan, the supply of KAMAZ vehicles, and the activities of the Vozrozhdenie company.

The analysis of the results of the meeting showed that the countries have sufficient potential for a significant increase in the volume of mutual trade, investment, and implementation of projects in such areas as industry, transport, energy, agriculture, and several other areas. 

The trade turnover between Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation in the first quarter of 2022 alone increased by more than 45% and amounted to about 171.1 million dollars. Export of Turkmenistan to Russia for the indicated period increased by more than 35% and amounted to 47.1 million dollars.

Mutual interest in the humanitarian sphere

Separate ministries and departments of the two countries interact effectively. Thus, the Agency for Transport and Communications of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media of the Russian Federation signed a memorandum on the activation of bilateral partnership in the communications and digital provision.

According to the memorandum, Russia and Turkmenistan will establish cooperation in the field of digitalization of public administration. Serious attention is planned to be paid to the development of advanced technological solutions and state control over the radio frequency spectrum. It was also decided to organize business missions for companies from the two countries working in the field of IT business.

Recently, joint ties in the cultural, scientific, humanitarian, and educational spheres have significantly intensified. Both states provide all-around support to these processes, creating the necessary conditions for satisfying the growing mutual interest in history, culture, and art.

During the meeting of the leaders of Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation, an agreement to promote the broad strengthening and development of humanitarian ties was also reached. In particular, the Russian leader supported the initiative of his Turkmen colleague to establish a joint  Russian-Turkmen university.

Vladimir Putin noted that Russia is grateful to the leadership of Turkmenistan for its careful attitude to the Russian language and Russian culture. The Russian leader thanked Serdar Berdimuhamedov for his interest in expanding the joint Russian-Turkmen general education school named after A.S. Pushkin, located in Ashgabat. The educational process here is conducted according to Russian educational standards and textbooks.

As part of the humanitarian cooperation agenda, it was also noted that Russian universities are especially popular with the citizens of Turkmenistan. This is due both to strong established ties between the peoples of the two countries, and the absence of a language barrier. Some impressive figures were given as an example. More than 30 thousand students from Turkmenistan are currently receiving higher education in Russian universities. More than 4.3 thousand of them study on a budgetary basis.

In Moscow, Bairamgul Orazdurdiyeva, the rector of the Turkmen state university named after Makhtumkuli, and Konstantin Markelov, the head of the Astrakhan State University named after V.N. Tatishchev signed an agreement on cooperation in education. The universities agreed on the implementation of joint projects, academic exchanges, the organization of advanced training courses, development, and implementation of educational programs, as well as the issuance of double diplomas.

21 06 2022, 19:54
Photo source: CentralAsia.news

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