Medvedev arrives in Turkmenistan to watch Silk Way Rally.

13/9 TASS 45

TURKMENISTAN, September 13 (ITAR-TASS) - Russian President Dmitry
Medvedev has arrived in Turkmenistan. He will watch the start of the 9th
final stage of the "Silk Way-2009" international Dakar Series.
The presidents of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, Nursultan Nazarbayev
and Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, will attend the ceremony together with the
Russian leader. The Turkmenistani president met in person his counterparts
from Russia and Kazakhstan at the airport on Sunday.
The crew of Spanish Volkswagen driver Carlos Sainz is the leader in
the car class. A KAMAZ truck crew of Firdaus Kabirov, many-times winner of
the international Dakar rally, is the first in the truck class.
This is going to be the first Dakar Series race in the territory of
Eurasia. The 4,350 -kilometre route lies through the territories of
Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Twenty trucks and 51 cars from 25
countries such as Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain, Russia, Turkmenistan, the
United States and Mongolia are participating in the race. About a hundred
emergency service vehicles, six planes and six helicopters will accompany
the competitors. The race will finish in the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat
later on Sunday. TV coverage will be provided in 150 countries.
After the starting ceremony the Russian and Turkmenistani presidents
will meet for talks. Dmitry Medvedev and president Berdymukhamedov will
focus on fuel and energy cooperation.
"Priority attention will be given to the cooperation in the fuel and
energy sector where Russia and Turkmenistan's joint efforts have already
produced a sizable potential," the Russian president's aide Sergei
Prikhodko said.
"The Presidents will consider the stepping up of joint activity in
the gas industry and will consider the prospects for new projects."
"It's important to us to understand Turkmenistan's strategic plans in
the natural gas sector and the place that Russia occupies in these plans,"
Prikhodko said. "Quite naturally, any country has the right to supply gas
wherever it finds necessary and we feel no jealousy in this respect but if
Russia has some place in that strategy, indeed, the results will be quite
favourable."
"It's expected that the international company Itera and the State
Agency for Hydrocarbon Resources Management and Use will sign a
production-sharing agreement as regards the Caspian Sea block-21
deposits," Prikhodko said, adding that Medvedev and Berdymukhamedov will
attend the signing ceremony.
"The parties will also raise issues concerning non-energy aspects of
bilateral trade and emphasis in this sphere will be made on intensifying
the work of the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation," he
said.
Prikhodko indicated that, contrary to the current global tendencies,
Russian-Turkmenistani trade exclusive of natural gas grew almost 30% in
the first six months of this year and reached $ 514.1 million.
Presidents Medvedev and Berdymukhamedov also hope to discuss cultural
and humanitarian cooperation, including bilateral exchanges in the field
of education.
Russia has two educational establishments in Turkmenistan at the
moment -- a Russian-Turkmen general school carrying the name of Alexander
Pushkin and an affiliation of the Moscow-based State University of Oil and
Gas.