HIGH-POWERED U.S. GROUP TO PROMOTE COOPERATION WITH TURKMENISTAN.

Unocal, Exxon, Mobil, Chevron, Dresser, Case, and Coca-Cola are among the U.S. firms that have founded a council to promote U.S. investment in, and trade with, Turkmenistan. Unocal chairs the joint body. The same company heads a consortium that plans to lay oil and gas pipelines from Turkmenistan to the Indian Ocean via Afghanistan and Pakistan, thus circumventing Russia and Iran. Turkmen president Saparmurad Niazov greeted the group’s founding meeting in Washington. (Itar-Tass, July 21)

Russian Privatization Deals Move Forward.