Every year on August 12, the countries of the Caspian region celebrate the Day of the Caspian Sea. The tradition dates back to 2007, after the entry into force of the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea, or the Tehran Convention. Columnist Ussa Ussaev told the editors of Turkmenportal about the cooperation of Turkmenistan with the states of the region and promising projects.
The most large-scale events in honor of the Caspian Day are planned to be held in Turkmenistan and Russia.
In Turkmenistan, in order to widely popularize the country’s environmental policy, expand international cooperation aimed at ensuring environmental safety and protection of the marine environment of the Caspian Sea, a scientific and practical conference, sports and cultural events will be held in the Avaza national tourist zone on August 12.
On August 10 and 11, Astrakhan will host the Caspian Sea Day forum. The forum participants will discuss the issues of monitoring the pollution of the marine and coastal environment of the Caspian Sea, biodiversity, ensuring environmental safety and energy resource potential.
The deepening and expansion of traditionally good neighborly relations between the countries of the Caspian region was influenced by the adoption on August 12, 2018 of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea – an international treaty between Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan within the framework of the Fifth Caspian Summit in the Kazakh city of Aktau.
Based on the principles laid down in this Convention, cooperation between Turkmenistan and the states of the region is developing and planning and implementation of promising projects are being carried out.
The Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project has become a major energy project for the region.
The Trans-Caspian gas pipeline is an element of energy security in the world
Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan issued a statement that the country intends to continue to participate in the implementation of the project for the construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline. The release of the Foreign Ministry focuses on the fact that it is not just about future fuel supplies to Europe, but about ensuring global energy security. According to the diplomatic department, there are no political or economic factors that would impede the construction of the gas pipeline.
The gas pipeline will be another option for diversifying energy flows. At the same time, the balance of interests of construction participants, transit countries and consumers will be observed.
Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project
On May 26, 2008, in Ashgabat, a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation in Energy between Turkmenistan and the European Union was signed. The participants agreed on cooperation in diversifying the market and supplying energy resources in order to ensure energy security.
The issue of construction was discussed in detail by Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov in 2007 during negotiations in Brussels with the President of the European Commission and the European Commissioners. Then high-ranking EU politicians visited Turkmenistan, which made it possible to reach agreements in principle on cooperation between Turkmenistan and the European Union in the field of energy.
In 2011, President of the European Commission José Manuel Baroso visited Turkmenistan. He confirmed that the parties are ready to work out the option of supplying energy resources from Turkmenistan to Europe.
Turkmenistan became the initiator of the dialogue “on the margins” of the UN on the problem of energy security. Based on this, in 2008 the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution “Reliable and stable transit of energy carriers and its role in ensuring sustainable development and international cooperation.” Five years later, the UN General Assembly once again unanimously adopted the Turkmen draft of a similar resolution.
Turkmenistan is the initiator of the formation of an energy partnership mechanism with the participation of the EU and Azerbaijan. The European Union has made the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline one of the promising projects for Brussels. In November 2013, in the Kingdom of Belgium in the city of Brussels, a bilateral meeting was held with representatives of the European Commission on the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline and the entry of Turkmen natural gas to the European market.
Speaking at the international conference “Oil and Gas of Turkmenistan – 2019”, the representative of the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission Erlendas Grigorovich noted that the EU has adopted a comprehensive strategy for Central Asia, which speaks of the EU’s interest in developing relations with Turkmenistan as an important partner in the region.
– In 2018, gas demand in Europe amounted to 300 billion cubic meters, there are not many suppliers, so we continue our work to diversify our supply sources and routes in order to ensure our energy security. “In this regard, we are also looking at Turkmenistan,” Grigorovich said then.
The EU representative, making such statements, pinned great hopes on the operation of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea and the Southern Gas Corridor. In his opinion, a competitive price, the distribution of economic benefits among the project participants, financial conditions and a good operating environment – all this should help the implementation of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline project.
Grigorovich spoke about the possibility of the EU creating additional favorable conditions for the project, as was the case with the Southern Gas Corridor. European companies will conduct a technical expertise of the project, verify compliance with environmental standards and train local specialists.
The representative of the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission emphasized that Turkmenistan has a huge potential, the country has everything necessary to attract European investors.
Then the project received another technical update, the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline along the bottom of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan was to be connected to the Trans-Anatolian gas pipeline (TANAP). This gas pipeline provides for the supply of gas from Azerbaijan through Georgia and Turkey to the Greek border, where it will be continued by the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP) to Southern Europe.
At the end of July 2023, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov announced plans to complete the construction of the Igdir-Nakhchivan gas pipeline in 2024. According to Bayramov, during the discussion of energy cooperation between the two states with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, the importance of the implementation of the gas pipeline project was highlighted.
Recall that the Igdir-Nakhchivan gas pipeline will have the ability to pass through itself 500 million cubic meters of gas per year, which will allow delivering Azerbaijani gas from Turkey to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Bayramov drew attention to the appeals of the European Commission and numerous requests from European countries and said that discussions are currently underway to expand the TANAP and TAP gas pipelines.
− The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the projects changing the energy map of the Eurasian region. Currently, specific projects are being implemented to expand it and deliver additional volumes of gas both to the Turkish market and through Turkish territory to Europe. And in the coming months we will see the results,” Bayramov emphasized.
Taking into account the appeals of the European Commission and the numerous appeals of European countries that have been experiencing a shortage of blue fuel for more than a year, discussions are currently underway to expand the TANAP and TAP gas pipelines, the minister said.
Ussa Usaev noted that the Trans-Caspian pipeline could become an additional key to the implementation of large-scale projects for the delivery of gas to Europe. Turkmenistan is ready for mutually beneficial cooperation on its implementation with all interested parties. And as noted by the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan, there are no political or economic factors that would impede the construction of the gas pipeline.
/// This is cross post from Turkmenportal — Originally published in Russian at https://turkmenportal.com/blog/65241/ekspert-ussa-ussaev-rasskazal-o-perspektivah-sotrudnichestva-turkmenistana-s-prikaspiiskimi-gosudarstvami
English language translation by nCa
#Caspian, #Trans-Caspian, #pipeline, #Turkmenistan,