Turkmen Gas not Available to Ukraine, say Observers

Ukraine will not be able to source gas supplies from Turkmenistan because the central Asian country is contractually committed to Russia, sectoral experts have said.

A press conference in Moscow heard that proposals to lessen Ukrainian dependence on Russian gas with Turkmen contracts were not practical.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych last week met Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov to discuss gas deliveries from the energy-rich Caspian country. Later Energy Minister Eduard Stavitsky said that Ukraine would "participate in open tenders for exploration of deposits on the territory of Turkmenistan."

Valentyn Zemlianski, an independent market analyst, said Russia has control over most of Turkmenistan's natural gas.

"All the gas that Turkmenistan can supply to Ukraine is already contracted to Russia," he said during a briefing hosted by Russian news agencies. "Gazprom has not been fulfilling these contracts in full recently, but they exist."

He said Russia signed agreements with Central Asian suppliers, including Turkmenistan, to buy up all gas that can be exported about 10 years ago.

 Berdimuhamedov's government is also a key player in the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline, (TAPI), which has the support of the Asia Development Bank.

Ukraine is seeking to end its reliance on Russian gas, which has caused numerous disputes between the two countries.