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Turkmen economy is made open to foreigners
Real estate news By Nezavisimaya Gazeta
15.10.2007 11:58 msk
The decree "On foreign investments in Turkmenistan" President Gurbankuly Berdymuhammedov signed permits sale of real estate to foreigners. Berdymuhammedov intends to carry out monetary reforms as well. The decree published on October 12 enables foreign investors to establish enterprises in Turkmenistan they will own completely or partially, buy real and movable estate including tenements, apartments, transportation, "and other objects permitted by the acting legislation". Before the decree, foreigners were permitted to invest in the Turkmen economy only in tandems with state businesses.
"The budget is short of money," Shohrat Kadyrov, an expert with the Norwegian Institute of Foreign Policy, assumed. "Ashkhabad is launching a new economic policy. It has to revive the national economy, but Saparmurat Niyazov left it no money to do it with." The Turkmenbashi's boasts of an impressive and steady economic growth notwithstanding, not a single new city was built in the republic and the rural population to city dwellers ratio never changed. Moreover, electricity generation went down from 14.5 billion kilowatt hour in the Soviet period to under 10 billion in the years of sovereignty. That is presumably why Berdymuhammedov wants assets sold.
Since Turkmenistan has always been open for Western investors, this proclaimed privatization will certainly interest Russia. Major Russian companies may find energy-production objects quite attractive. (The Mary Hydroelectric Power Plant, one that produces electricity for Ashkhabad and some for Afghanistan, is one of them.) LUKOIL in its turn is interested in Turkmen oil fields. It has already offered to buy the Turkmen-Malaysian Dragon Oil. The so called new travel zone Avaza is another attractive region containing sodium chloride, bromine, sulfate deposits. Denomination of the manat (monetary unit) may continue the economic reforms that will remove both zeroes and the Turkmenbashi's portraits from banknotes in 2009. New manat designs (1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, and 500 manat banknotes) were recently shown to general public in Vatan news program. The 500 manat banknote is the only one to retain the portrait of President Niyazov.
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