Ukraine looks to Turkmenistan for natural gas

ASHGABAT – Anatolia News Agency

Urkraine, which is hoping to diversify from its dependence on Russian natural gas, is looking to import natural gas directly from Turkmenistan. 

The Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovic met visiting Turkmen President Gurbaguli Berdimuhamedov yesterday, to discuss cooperation in the energy field. This was the first presidential level meeting between Ukraine and Turkmenistan in ten years. 

Yanukovic said Ukraine would be interested in helping Turkmenistan explore natural gas reserves.
“Ukraine can play a pivotal role in exploring and extracting natural gas in Turkmenistan,” said Yanukovic, stressing that the Ukraine could provide Turkmenistan with the necessary equipment and machinery to get to the natural gas reserves. 

Yanukovic also told Berdimuhamedov that his country is interested in the construction of the second section of the Malay-Bagtiyarlik (Turkmenistan-Chinese natural gas pipeline), the construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline, and the modernization of the Mari state electricity plant. 

The two leaders also apparently discussed the construction of a new pipeline that would join the Caspian and Black Sea bypassing Russia, according to the Anatolia news agency.