Turkmenistan cut all natural gas deliveries to Russia on December 31, because of the failure to agree on the price for a new supply contract, Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister Yoly Gurbanmuradov said Monday.
"Turkmenistan has ended supplies of natural gas" to Russia, Gurbanmuradov said in a statement received by AFP.
"The Russian government, the management of (Russian natural gas giant) Gazprom and (Gazprom subsidiary) Itera several times asked the Turkmen government to prolong the existing contract," the deputy premier explained.
"But because of the absence of a legal document confirming the intention to acquire natural gas in 2001, Turkmenistan rejected the Russian proposal," he added.
According to the official Neutralny Turkmenistan newspaper, Russian and Turkmen negotiators were seeking to tie up a deal for Ashkhabad to supply Moscow 30 billion cubic meters of gas in 2001.
Ten billion cubic meters would be destined for Western Europe. The remainder would be exported to former Soviet republics such as Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and the Baltic states.
But the agreement fell through because of Russia's refusal to pay the price demanded of $40 (42.7 euros) per 1,000 cubic meters, with payment 50 percent in hard currency and 50 percent in goods.
Ashkhabad "showed flexibility and a desire to reach a deal under mutually-acceptable conditions. But the Turkmen side's efforts did not meet with the necessary understanding," the publication wrote Monday.
"Turkmenistan is insisting on a price that will cover the costs of extraction and transportation of natural gas to the borders of Turkmenistan," it added.
A deal with identical conditions struck with Ukraine entered force on January 1, Gurbanmuradov also announced Monday, in a bid to put pressure on Moscow to follow suit.
"The Turkmen government is ready to discuss the conditions for the resumption of Turkmen natural gas supplies to Russia," the deputy premier said.
Last year during a visit to this Central Asian state, Russian President Vladimir Putin struck a preliminary agreement that Ashkhabad would supply Moscow with 50 billion cubic meters of gas annually over the next 30 years.
But the two countries failed to agree a price and in September Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov dealt a blow to Russia's plans to receive Turkmen gas by indicating that he would only sign contracts of two to three years.
During 2000, Turkmenistan agreed to supply Russia with 30 billion cubic meters of gas at a price ranging from 36 and 38 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters.
Ashkhabad, which possesses some of the world's largest gas reserves but lacks a major market in which to sell them, needs cash to boost its strapped state coffers.
It had placed some hopes on a planned Trans-Caspian route costing two billion dollars to take its gas to Turkey, heavily backed by the United States as a way of lessening Turkmenistan's dependence on Iran and Russia.
But that project is looking increasingly in doubt, playing into the hands of Russia, which is competing for supplies of Turkmen gas as part of its bid to boost its influence in the resource-rich region.—AFP.
©--Agence France Presse.
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
