Ukraine's Yanukovych confident of boosting coop with Turkmenistan
By Aynur Jafarova
Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych has voiced confidence in deepening the cooperation between Ukraine and Turkmenistan.
President Yanukovych expressed his views in a letter to Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, forwarded at the time of the celebration of the Day of Turkmen State Flag and dedicated to the results of his official visit to Ashgabat on February 12-14.
"I am confident that the business atmosphere for an effective and well-coordinated work will allow to jointly implement all the agreements we have reached on deepening Ukrainian-Turkmen cooperation in foreign policy, energy, construction, financial, cultural-humanitarian and other spheres," Yanukovych wrote in the letter.
The Ukrainian president expressed hope that the results of the recent talks will give a powerful impetus to the intensification of bilateral relations and invited Berdymukhamedov to pay a reciprocal visit to Ukraine at a convenient time.
During his three-day official visit to the Central Asian state, Yanukovych voiced Ukraine's interest in resuming gas supplies from Turkmenistan and willingness to deepen cooperation in this field.
He said that Turkmenistan and Ukraine are well positioned to join efforts to explore alternative routes for gas supplies, both for their own needs and further exports to Europe.
As part of the visit, the two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at enhancement of bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector.
Diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and Ukraine were established in 1992. So far, the two countries have signed 120 documents at the intergovernmental and interdepartmental levels.
Experts point out that Ukraine's main interest in Turkmenistan is associated with the country's vast natural gas reserves. Kiev sees Turkmenistan as a competitive energy source. During the visits by Ukrainian officials to Ashgabat it was repeatedly stressed that Ukraine is interested in cooperation with Turkmenistan, especially in the energy sector.
Ashgabat is also interested in new markets, including early access of its energy resources to Europe.