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BISHKEK (TCA) — The Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea is expected to be signed later this year by the five Caspian littoral states—Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, and Iran. We are republishing this article on the issue, written by Azad Garibov, originally published by The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor: Continue reading
ASTANA (TCA) — Kazakhstan’s efforts to expand cooperation with the US have caused irritation from Russia which seeks to keep its influence in the Central Asia region. We are republishing this article on the issue, originally published by Eurasianet: Continue reading
ASTANA (TCA) — President of Russian oil company LUKOIL Vagit Alekperov and Chairman of the Management Board of Kazakhstan’s national oil and gas company KazMunayGas Sauat Mynbayev signed a Principles Agreement on Zhenis license area, in Astana on June 5. Continue reading
ASTANA (TCA) — Last week, Kazakhstan’s capital Astana hosted the 51st meeting of the Special Working Group on the development of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea at the level of deputy foreign ministers of the Caspian littoral states (SWG), the Kazakh Foreign Ministry reported. Continue reading
ASHGABAT (TCA) — Turkmenistan’s new Caspian Sea port will give its landlocked neighbors — Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan — a vital maritime transport link to Western markets. We are republishing this article on the issue, written by John C. K. Daly, originally published by The Jamestown Foundation’s Eurasia Daily Monitor: Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov visited the Caspian shore, on May 2, to inaugurate the Turkmenbashi International Seaport. The new $1.5 billion facility, Berdimuhamedov told attendees, is important not only for Turkmenistan but the wider region as well. It promises to become an important link in the formation of a modern system of maritime transport across the Caspian. He added that his government is offering use of the port to neighboring countries, including the other Central Asian republics (Regnum, May 3). Designs for the port’s expansion were drawn up five years ago, before record-low prices for natural gas decimated Turkmenistan’s primary source of export revenue. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, construction of the Turkmenbashi International Seaport began in August 2013. The new port covers an area of about 375 acres and includes ferry, passenger and cargo terminals, with 1.1 miles of berths designed to serve 17 vessels at once (Mir24, May 2). The Turkmenbashi International Seaport’s projected throughput capacity is considerable: the government states that the new facility will be able to service 300,000 passengers, 75,000 trailer trucks, and 400,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containers a year (Mfa.gov.tm, May 2). The projected annual total throughput capacity of the new port is 17–18 million tons of cargo; the ship-to-shore berths (STS) will operate with a capacity of 25 TEUs per hour (Turkmenportal.com, May 3). Another important component in the expanded Turkmenbashi port is the “Balkan” shipbuilding and ship-repair plant. The enterprise, built by the Turkish company Gap Inşat, under a May 2014 contract with the Turkmenistan State Service of Sea and River Transport, has the capacity to process 12,000 tons of steel per year. The facility will be able to construct 4–6 vessels annually while providing maintenance facilities for another 20–30 ships per year, allowing for repair works to be carried out on civilian vessels such as tankers, dry cargo vessels and tugboats (Arzuw News, May 3). In addition, Turkmenbashi, formerly Krasnovodsk, is the home port of the modest Turkmenistani Navy (Military-az.com, July 27, 2012). The Turkmenbashi International Seaport’s potential is already being recognized across the Caspian region. Speaking at Turkmenistan’s “Great Silk Road—To New Development Milestones” international forum, held to commemorate the port’s opening, Russian Astrakhan region Governor Aleksandr Zhilkin told participants, “The port opening in Turkmenbashi will also work in the interests of the Astrakhan region,” referring to the resumption in the near future of shipping between Turkmenbashi and Russia’s Caspian port of Olya. Zhilkin added that Astrakhan “has been developing closer relations with all the countries of the Caspian region for a long time, and with Turkmenistan in particular” (Kaspyinfo.ru, May 3). Kyrgyzstan, the easternmost of the former Soviet Central Asian states, has also expressed interest in...
ASHGABAT (TCA) — Turkmenistan on May 2 opened a large new port on the Caspian Sea that the country hopes will improve its export prospects and establish it as a regional hub connecting Europe and Asia, RFE/RL reported. The opening of the $1.5 billion cargo and passenger port comes as the Central Asian country tries to diversify its economy, which overwhelmingly depends on natural gas exports for revenues. Gas exports are also Turkmenistan’s main source of hard currency. They took a hit when Russia, once its main customer, stopped all purchases in 2016 after a pricing dispute. The elaborate new port in the city of Turkmenbashi will more than triple Turkmenistan’s cargo handling capacity to 25-26 million tons a year, the government said. Although it has no outlets to the world's oceans, the 1,000-kilometer long Caspian Sea is an important thoroughfare for trade and passengers in the region. Speaking before the official opening ceremony, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov said the new port will be an important link in a modern maritime transport system giving users favorable conditions for access to the Black Sea area, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. He said Ashgabat is ready to discuss use of the seaport with its landlocked neighbors, in a reference to Uzbekistan and Afghanistan. Turkmenistan already has a railway link with China through neighboring Kazakhstan and the new port could help Ashgabat win some of cargo flows moving between China, the Middle East, and Europe. The port has container handling facilities and a polypropylene terminal which will handle products from a nearby plant that is set to be launched later this year. Speaking at International Forum “The Great Silk Road: Towards New Frontiers of Development” on May 2, President Berdymukhammedov encouraged activation of the discussion of various aspects of the construction of transport corridor Afghanistan – Turkmenistan – Azerbaijan – Georgia – Turkey, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reported. The formation of the western transport corridor from Central Asia is very important in the context of realization of ambitious targets of the revival of the Silk Road and joining of two world economic poles of Eurasia, the Turkmen leader said. Construction of Turkmenbashi International Seaport is a considerable input of Turkmenistan to this process, the president highlighted. Berdymukhammedov expressed the confidence that the new port will become an important link of the Silk Road, a wide open gate for equal, efficient and beneficial international cooperation for decades to come.
