What a difference a year makes. One of the final diplomatic triumphs of Turkmen leader Saparmurat Niyazov before his death last December was to renegotiate Turkmenistan's exclusive natural gas contracts with the Russian energy giant Gazprom from a bargain rate of $65 per thousand cubic... MORE

On December 1 Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov announced that construction has begun at the Turkmen-Iranian border city of Bereket on a railroad linking Iran, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. The 900-kilometer (560 miles) railroad, with around 700 kilometers (435 miles) inside Turkmenistan, will provide greater capacity for... MORE

On November 23 in Ashgabat, Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov and Gazprom president Alexei Miller held tense talks with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov on joint gas projects. The Russians goaded the Turkmens to open Caspian offshore blocks for Russian exploration and to start construction work... MORE

On October 31, oil trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange soared to a record-high $95.08 a barrel for December delivery before settling to $94.53. As the Western energy market has become increasingly jittery, China, now the world’s second-largest oil import market, has made its... MORE

On October 26, Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov and Gazprom deputy CEO Valery Golubev were reportedly in discussions about what the Turkmen presidential press service described as “issues of drafting inter-governmental agreements on the expansion of the existing gas transportation system in Central Asia and the... MORE

On October 21 London refocused British diplomatic efforts in Central Asia from Kazakhstan to Turkmenistan. The Turkmen state news agency publicized a visit to Ashgabat by an official from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), wrongly suggesting this was the FCO’s director for Russia... MORE

On October 8 Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi arrived in Astana, Kazakhstan, to consult with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Prime Minister Karim Masimov in a bid to ease tensions around the Kashagan oilfield. Work at Kashagan was halted over the summer, due to accusations... MORE

While Western powers compete to entice Turkmenistan’s new leadership to share access to the country’s munificent hydrocarbon resources, Moscow is pursing a longer-term goal by attempting to modify the country’s long-standing neutrality stance. The Kremlin apparently hopes to enmesh Turkmenistan in existing post-Soviet defense pacts... MORE

Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov delivered a keynote speech at the UN General Assembly on September 25, indicating that Ashgabat wants to “open up” to the outside world and build a more durable environment to further its economic interests. Praising the role of the UN in... MORE