Minnikhanov in Ashgabad: flight to the capital of Turkmenistan, new envoy and to defend KAMAZ
The President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov paid a two-day visit to Turkmenistan. He is going to participate in the opening of the Tatarstan Days, appointment of a new ambassador plenipotentiary and personally talk to Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov. The fate of big contracts for Tatarstan enterprises is decided during personal meetings of presidents. This time Minnikhanov has reminded that economic ties are the closest ties despite the brotherhood of the two nations. Realnoe Vremya decided to remember the history of relationships between the republics.
Brotherhood with Turkmens and flight to Ashgabad
Rustam Minnikhanov arrived in the capital of Turkmenistan on 10 October. The Tatarstan President managed to participate in an exhibition of economic achievements of Tatarstan, which was dedicated to the 25 th anniversary of its independence, and inaugurate the Tatarstan Day in Turkmenistan during this two-day trip. In turn, Kazan plans to hold a day of the economy of Turkmenistan in 2017.
Minnikhanov's meeting with President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov was the main event of the visit. The head of Turkmenistan told about common features of the nations and fraternal relations between them. In answer to it, Minnikhanov noted the big importance of the economic ties. Particularly the President of Tatarstan reminded about the cooperation in mechanical engineering, energy, high technologies, textile and food industries, agriculture and health. It was also told about a demand for direct flights from Kazan to Ashgabad.
It should be told that Rustam Minnikhanov's visit was preceded by a series of visits of Tatarstan and Turkmen functionaries. For example, a meeting of a joint Turkmen and Tatarstan working group took place on 13 September 2016. They talked about a closer cooperation. Albert Karimov, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Tatarstan, told that particularly Tatneft, KAMAZ, Kazancompressormash, Kazan Motor Production Association, Tatchempharmpreparaty, Factory named after Sergo, IED-Holding expressed their interest. The volume of the foreign trade turnover of Tatarstan and Turkmenistan was also made public – it made up 7,4bn rubles in 2015.
Tatneft's stability and stuck KAMAZ
Three above-mentioned companies – Tatneft, KAMAZ and IED-Holding – already have representatives in Turkmenistan. In general, the cooperation started within an Intergovernmental Agreement on Commercial, Economic, Scientific and Cultural Cooperation as from 28 June 2008.
Tatneft began its work in Turkmenistan in 2008 when there was signed a protocol on development of the cooperation in oil and gas spheres between Tatneft and Turkmenoil. The representative office of the company in Turkmenistan started to work in February 2011. A service contract between Tatneft and Turkmenoil GC was signed in 2012. The signing took place during Rustam Minnikhanov's business trip to Turkmenistan. Moreover, in Turkmenistan, Tatneft helps to enhance oil recovery wells in the south-eastern oil field of Goturdepe. In July 2015 it was told that Tatneft was going to broaden the project and increase the amount of wells that were under repair in Goturdepe.
As for KAMAZ, when Online Monitoring of Russia's Economic Outlook took place in July 2016, experts of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy and the Russian Foreign Trade Academy paid attention to a significant reduction in the supply of trucks and spare parts to Turkmenistan by KAMAZ. At the same time in September 2016 it was said that KAMAZ was going to increase the exports to Turkmenistan. Perhaps Rustam Minnikhanov insinuated that when he started to talk to Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov about the economic cooperation.
Once IED-Holding (one of the favourite contractors of Ilshat Fardiev's Grid Company) presented an investment project of Goller Sui health complex, which is an indoor ski centre in Awaza National Tourist Zone.
Curiously, a project of a Turkish company Polimex is also mentioned in this zone. The company offered to build a hotel complex on an artificial island that looks like a map of Turkmenistan and other projects: culture and leisure centres, hotels, water park, race track, a cruise port in Türkmenbaşy.
In February 2013, a plane of a Turkmenistan airline was arrested at the Istanbul airport when it was going to transport about a tonne of gold bars.
Polimex, which has been working in Turkmenistan for a long time, turned out to be the owner of the gold. As the company told, it was not a tonne but just 190 kg. It was designed for a purchase of construction materials in the countries where it was impossible to transfer money because of the embargo.
It should be reminded, Polimex is reconstructing the building of the Shamov Hospital. It was also going to erect buildings in the Vakhitov Hill in Kazan.
Smart plenipotentiary representation
Appointment of a new envoy of Tatarstan to Turkmenistan Ruslan Kabirov was another goal of Rustam Minnikhanov's visit. Minnikhanov visited a new building of the Russian Embassy in Ashgabad and presented Kabirov to the Ambassador.
By the way, Kabirov was unofficially presented in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan earlier. He visited Turkmenistan on 20 September 2016 as the first deputy of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Tatarstan. He discussed the questions connected with Rustam Minnikhanov's visit and talked about the organisation of a joint business forum in Ashgabad and days of the Republic of Tatarstan.
The Plenipotentiary Representation the Republic of Tatarstan to Turkmenistan opened as early as 2009. But it did not become very famous during this time. However, the activity of the entity was shadowed by a juicy scandal. Its former employee Nadir Akulov, the son of the deputy of the State Duma of Russia from Tatarstan Timur Akulov, was accused of grand fraud. Then entrepreneur Airat Galavied accused Akulov of offering an investment project on a signing of a contract for purchase/sale contract Russia-Ashgabad fuel. When he got 1,5 million rubles, Akulov stopped reacting to calls. And the investment project was not signed. It turned out Akulov did not work in the Plenipotentiary Representation when the money was received. The court decided that Akulov was due to pay 1,5 million rubles, while the representation that Akulov represented was not found debtor.
After this scandal, the representation was famous for its work, first of all, — economic relationships with the country.
Instead of thousands of words
It should be reminded close contacts with the most closed country of the former Soviet Union in the past started during Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov's presidency. Now Rustam Minnikhanov meets Berdimuhamedov several times per year. Sometimes no details about the results of the meetings were made public. Sometimes a signing of big agreements of regional enterprises became the result.
For instance, Minnikhanov visited Ashgabad in April 2014 when they came to an agreement on delivery of a large lot of KAMAZ vehicles. In June 2014, Minnikhanov was accompanied by Tatneft's director general Nail Maganov and KAMAZ's director general Sergey Kogogin. However, no clear results became known.
Then the presidents met in April 2015. The goal of this visit was not made public officially: it was told again about the cooperation of Turkmenistan and Tatarstan. But after the meeting the Parliamentary delegation of Turkmenistan headed by the deputy chairman of Turkmen Madjlis of the fifth convocation Gurbangul Bairamova visited the State Council of Tatarstan.
Important events in the Tatarstan and Turkmenistan relations took place in the past too. To put an example, the chairman of the Madjlis of Turkmenistan Akja Nurberdiyeva and the Minister of Culture and Broadcasting Gulmurad Muradov assisted the inauguration of the Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov.
Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov paid a two-day visit to Kazan in the summer 2008. The delegation of Turkmenistan consisted of the Cabinet of Ministers almost in full, heads of state corporations and the Ambassador of Turkmenistan to Russia. Tatarstan was represented by the Tatarstan President Mintimer Shaimiev, Prime Minister Rustam Minnikhanov, his first deputy Boris Pavlov, the Minister of Culture Zilya Valeyeva and the State Adviser to the Tatarstan President on Foreign Affairs Timur Akulov.