Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Economic Diplomacy Mehdi Safari met with Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov on the sidelines of a conference of landlocked developing countries held on August 15-16 in Avaza , dedicated to the development of logistics routes.
According to the press service of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the parties discussed the implementation of the agreements reached during the visit of Turkmen President Serdar Berdimuhamedov to Iran in June this year.
Safari offered to expand trade and economic ties between the two countries, said that Iran is ready to provide Turkmenistan with access to Iranian ports in Bandar Abbas and Chehbahar, and expressed interest in the transit of Iranian goods through the territory of Turkmenistan.
The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister also noted the opportunity to expand cooperation between Tehran and Ashgabat in the oil and gas sector, including the swap transit of Turkmen gas to neighboring countries.
In addition, the Iranian representative announced the need to reduce duties, reopen the Bajgiran border market, as well as the Parses border crossing in Khorasan province.
Meredov agreed with the voiced proposals and supported the development of economic cooperation between the countries.
According to Tehran Times, Safari also met with Turkmen Deputy Prime Ministers for Agriculture Annageldi Yazmyradov and for Industry and Energy Charymyrat Purchekov .
The Iranian diplomat expressed his desire to expand economic cooperation and announced Iran's readiness to supply construction products to Turkmenistan, as well as provide technical services in the energy sector. In particular, Iranian companies are ready to carry out repairs at power plants.
Purchekov welcomed these proposals and stressed the need for increased cooperation between the two countries in the energy and construction sectors.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan does not report on the meeting.
Since January 2022, Turkmenistan has started swap gas supplies to Azerbaijan through Iran. According to the current agreement, 1.5-2 billion cubic meters of Turkmen gas are exported in this way every year.
In June, Iranian Oil Minister Javad Ouji said that Azerbaijan had proposed doubling the volume of these deliveries.
In January 2017, Turkmenistan stopped gas supplies to Iran due to a dispute between Turkmengaz and the National Iranian Gas Company. In 2018, the parties filed claims against each other in the International Arbitration Court, which in 2020 allegedly (neither party disclosed the final decision) sided with Turkmenistan. The Turkmen side demanded to pay $1.8 billion, which Iran owed for gas supplies in excess of the norm.
In October 2021, the parties discussed the possibility of resuming gas supplies. The Iranian side offered to repay the debt by barter, providing engineering and technical services in the areas of offshore and onshore development, oil and gas purification and processing.
Later, Javad Oudji said that the debt would be repaid, among other things, at the expense of receivables from the export of Iranian gas to Iraq. At the same time, the official again offered the engineering and technical services of Iranian companies for the development of oil and gas fields, the construction of petrochemical plants and oil refineries.
Source: Chronicles of Turkmenistan