CIS states discuss defence and the UAE takes a look

Baku Defence MInisters meet from CIS

Meanwhile the CIS Defence ministers have meeting in Baku as the oil flows to Ceyhan - The CIS, a loose association of former Soviet republics, comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan discontinued permanent membership on August 26, 2005 and is now an associate member.

The Armenian delegation has refused to attend the meeting in Baku, citing security reasons in an ongoing dispute with Azerbaijan over Nagorny-Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan that has a largely Armenian population.

On the sidelines Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov arrived in Baku on May 30 to discuss the Black Sea Fleet with his Ukrainian counterpart Anatoliy Hrytsenko. A source in the Russian delegation said Russia had prepared a draft agreement on joint inspection of Russia's Black Sea Fleet bases in Ukraine that will be signed during the meeting. There has been widespread speculation denied by Russia that a base was to be opened in the Syrian Mediterranean port of Tartre for the Russian Black Sea fleet to operate from - which has been heavily denied by Moscow.

UAE discuss joint projects in Turkmenistan

In an intriguing visit a UAE delegation included chairman of financial control of Ras Al-Khaima, Faisal bin Sakr Al-Kasimi, chairman of the council of oil control of Ras Al-Khaima, acting chairman of Al-Mashriq Bank, Abul Aziz Al-Gharir, executive chairman of the office of finance and development of Ras Al-Khaima, Izzat Al-Jani, chairman of the board of directors of Dragon Oil, Hussein Sultan have been visiting President Niyazov of Turkmenistanm to discuss joint ventures.

Prince Kasimi conveyed the message of greetings from President Shaikh Khalifa of UAE and said that his delegation was interested in examining the full range of investment opportunities in Turkmenistan.

“We have extensive experience in the hydrocarbon sector . . . Our desire to cooperate is not limited to the hydrocarbon sector only. We are ready to participate in any field offered by you,” said Prince Kasimi.

Prince K (as he prefers) said “Peter Watson here has earlier worked in the USA as head of our office for development. He has studied the project for gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan.”

President Saparmurat Niyazov traced on the map the likely routes for export of energy resources from Turkmenistan to the world markets. Of particular interest are the fields at the right bank of the Amudarya River. These fields have been earmarked for export of natural gas to China to Shanghai through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.” “This issue was negotiated with Hu Jintao in Moscow, during the celebration of the Victory Day [May 9 2005]," Niyazov is reported saying..

Turkmenistan is constantly increasing gas production. According to the country's statistics and information institute, in the first 10 months of 2005 natural gas production grew by 7 % on the same period last year, to 50.3 bn cm. The export of gas increased accordingly. By the end of this year the country plans to produce 60.5 bn cm, more than 46 bn of which is meant for export to Ukraine, Russia, and Iran.

The Amu Darya is (was) one of the largest rivers in Central Asia. The drainage basin includes territories of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The river rises in Northern Afghanistan and Southern Tajikistan, it demarks the border between Afghanistan and Tajikistan, then flows through Turkmenistan, into Uzbekistan, and finally into the Aral Sea ... but not since the late 1980's.

The region is rich in hydrocarbons and large investments have been made to develop energy sources to turn the territories into a vast gas-and-oil producing region with the highly developed pipeline infrastructure with the outlets to world energy markets.