A meeting on the international experience of reducing the consumption of substances regulated by the Montreal Protocol was held at the UN building in Ashgabat. It was attended by representatives of ministries and departments of Turkmenistan, UNIDO, and UNDP.
The staff of the Ozone Office under the Ministry of Environmental Protection presented expert assessments of Turkmenistan’s implementation of the Montreal Protocol, the plan for phasing out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) from consumption starting in 2024, regulation of ozone-depleting substances (ODS), monitoring and control of trade in HCFCs and HFCs, the possibility of introducing alternatives with zero or low global warming potential, and ways to improve technological innovations in Turkmenistan.
A project is currently being implemented in the country, jointly coordinated by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and UNIDO. It will last until 2025 and is designed to fulfill Turkmenistan’s obligations under the ozone agreements.
Angela Gazieva, a specialist at the Ozone Office, noted that the project will not only work with regulated substances, but also include retraining and certification of refrigeration technicians, informing customs officers and border control officers about new types of refrigerants, updating training programs, and further improving the legislative and regulatory framework of Turkmenistan, taking into account the adopted Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol.
Myakhri Saparova said that the volume of R-22 refrigerant imported into the country, which is needed in various industries, is strictly observed, and there is a schedule for reducing purchases. She presented a table with visual indicators of the reduction of different types of refrigerants to zero over the past decade, indicating freons that are in the process of decommissioning or reducing use. Saparova also spoke about innovations in the refrigerant market, such as the ban on disposable containers and the coloring of all cylinders in a gray color.
After presentations and consultations, certification was held for some of the seminar participants and online for remote applicants who were trained in the Refrigeration and Climate Systems laboratory at the Center for Innovative Technologies at the Yagshygeldi Kakaev International University of Oil and Gas. The Center in March 2023. The training was conducted by international UNIDO experts from the Russian Federation, who also acted as lecturers at the seminar.
The private sector of Turkmenistan was represented at the meeting by Byashim Allamuradov from the “Sähra” company. He spoke about the possibilities of using new types of refrigerants in the country, the replacement of appropriate equipment, along with the training of technicians in methods of working with alternative mixtures, and safety measures during storage, injection, extraction, and disposal.
Allamuradov stressed that in addition to replacing freons and investing in the modernization of equipment for new types of cooling mixtures, the states of the Central Asian region should maintain energy efficiency and economical electricity consumption to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He also emphasized the need to find an alternative to hydrofluorocarbons for arid territories in industry, the household sector, transport, and other areas.
At the end of the meeting, S. Orazov, a representative of the State Customs Service of Turkmenistan, was awarded the international Montreal Protocol Prize on behalf of UNEP OzonAction in cooperation with the World Customs Organization. ///nCa, 16 October 2023