ASHGABAT, March 20 (Reuters) – The leaders of Afghanistan,
Tajikistan and Turkmenistan invited Asian financial institutions
on Wednesday to help fund construction of a regional railway to
boost trade links for the three landlocked states.

The project, estimated at between $1.5 billion and $2.0
billion, aims to lay a line of around 350-400 km (220-250 miles)
linking the neighbours’ existing rail networks to other parts of
Eurasia.

ASHGABAT, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Ukraine on Wednesday started
talks with Turkmenistan on resuming imports of its natural gas
to ease a dependence on expensive Russian supply, but any deal
would need the consent of Moscow which owns the pipeline.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich is visiting the
Central Asian nation after Kiev failed to renegotiate its gas
deal with Moscow.

ASHGABAT, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Reclusive Turkmenistan will
launch a privatisation of state-held assets in its tightly
regulated economy in coming months but looks set to keep control
of the vital oil and gas industry, officials said on Saturday.

“I have just signed an order to approve Turkmenistan’s
privatisation programme for 2013-16,” state media quoted
President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov as telling an enlarged
government meeting on Friday.

ASHGABAT (Reuters) – Turkmenistan has resumed gas supplies to Iran after a brief stoppage for repairs along a stretch of pipeline linking the two countries, the head of Turkmenistan’s state gas company told Reuters on Friday.

Iran buys almost a third of Turkmenistan’s exported gas, relying on it for heating in winter and using it year round to meet industrial demand in regions distant from the country’s own fields clustered around the Gulf.

ASHGABAT, Nov 15 (Reuters) – Turkmenistan plans to begin
production at the world’s second-largest gas field next year, a
senior Turkmen official said, opening up new EU- and U.S.-backed
supply routes to Europe and Asia at the risk of Russian
opposition.

The Central Asian nation plans to build two pipelines to
carry gas from the Galkynysh field. One would run to Pakistan
and India and the other would cross the Caspian Sea en route to
the European Union, easing the bloc’s dependence on Russian gas.

ASHGABAT, Nov 15 (Reuters) – Turkmenistan plans to begin
production at the world’s second-largest gas field next year, a
senior Turkmen official said, opening up new U.S.-backed supply
routes to Europe and Asia at the risk of Russian opposition.

The Central Asian nation plans to build two new pipelines to
carry gas from the Galkynysh field. One would run to Pakistan
and India and the other would cross the Caspian Sea en route to
the European Union, easing the bloc’s dependence on Russian gas.

ASHGABAT, Oct 20 (Reuters) – Turkmenistan’s parliament has
approved a $1.2 billion budget deficit for next year to help
fund plans to raise salaries and pensions in the gas-rich former
Soviet republic, state media reported on Saturday.

The state budget for 2013 envisages outgoings of $31.5
billion versus income of $30.3 billion. The reclusive Central
Asian state, which closely guards economic data, did not reveal
the size of the deficit in relation to gross domestic product.

ASHGABAT, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Hydrocarbon-rich Turkmenistan
will attract this year $3.8 billion in investments from its
production sharing agreements (PSAs) with foreign firms
developing oilfields in the Caspian, a senior state official
said on Thursday.

Rising investment in Turkmenistan’s oil-rich Caspian shelf
indicates growing interest by foreign oil firms to develop
deep-lying but promising riches in the sea, while the state has
been reluctant to admit Western companies to its onshore
resources.

ASHGABAT, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Hydrocarbon-rich Turkmenistan
will attract this year $3.8 billion in investments from its
production sharing agreements (PSAs) with foreign firms
developing oilfields in the Caspian, a senior state official
said on Thursday.

Rising investment in Turkmenistan’s oil-rich Caspian shelf
indicates growing interest by foreign oil firms to develop
deep-lying but promising riches in the sea, while the state has
been reluctant to admit Western companies to its onshore
resources.

ASHGABAT, Oct 17 (Reuters) – Turkmenistan, lauded by the
United States for banning child labour in its cotton fields,
plans to seek foreign investment to help finance a $1 billion
expansion programme of its cotton industry up until 2016, a
senior official said.

The Central Asian country of 5.5 million people, which is
rich in natural gas resources, is among the top 10 producers of
cotton and its high quality, fine-fibre “white gold” is used for
local production of jeanswear exported to dozens of countries.