Turkmenistan is a country rich in natural resources, supplying over 5 percent of the natural gas and over 1 percent of the oil use in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). With rich natural gas reserves and productive fields at Sovetabad, Turkmenistan is a self-sufficient energy consumer. Similarly, Turkmenistan is rich in chemical and mining industries, with major resource deposits in western regions.
Yet, one legacy of the Soviet period that still hinders Turkmenistan s economic progress today is its poor infrastructure. During the Soviet period, the problems of transporting goods abroad were not solved.
The Central Asian Railway, based in Tashkent, was created in the mid-1900s as a separate, regional railway system that serviced Central Asia, namely Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Kazakstan. Its operations, however, were controlled by Moscow. This created numerous problems for Turkmenistan and other Central Asian countries when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. And the only railway line in Turkmenistan is a single-track, non-electrified railway system.
Almost immediately after the breakup, Turkmenistan witnessed a decline in freight transport to other CIS nations—from 100 percent freight transport levels in 1990, to 57 percent of that level (tones) in 1994. Recognizing that its economic reorientation would depend on the development of these transportation infrastructures, in 1994 the Turkmenistani government launched an infrastructure campaign to promote the development of rail and freight transport lines, and to attain 69 percent of its original freight transport level by 1999.
Turkmenistan imported an estimated US$1,537,612 in goods, including equipment and construction materials valued at US$259,999; generators and boilers, at US$165,686; land transport equipment, at $US105,697; fuel minerals, US$78,995; electronic equipment for factories and houses, at $US75,107; metals, at $59,459; and grain, at $US49,373. Exports in 1994 exceeded imports by close to one million dollars, estimated at US$2,158,641. Reasons for this positive trade balance include a high export of electric energy, valued at US$50,043; natural gas, valued at US$1,453,503; petrol, valued at US$166,771; and agricultural goods, including cotton, fruits and nuts to the CIS and the West (See Table 1).
Yet, to maintain this positive trade balance and facilitate Turkmenistan s emergence onto the global economy, the Turkmen government developed a strategic infrastructure program that included the creation of an independent Turkmen Railway system with multiple rail lines:
The Tedjen-Serakhs Line. The first rail line developed under this railway was the Tedjen-Serakhs project, a major, southern railway line connecting Turkmenistan to southern routes, ending in Meshhed, Iran. This important southern route will free the Turkmen Railway from traditional CIS spheres of influence, allowing Turkmenistan to expand the sale of its valuable natural resources on a wider, global market. Yet, this new, southern railway is not so new after all; it is part of that famous silk road to China, allowing Turkmenistan to re-link with traditional trading partners. The line capacity from Tadjen-Serakhs is estimated at five to 10 million tones per year, with a projected increase of one to five million tones per year and an increased benefit of US$20 million per year in trade with the expansion of the rail line to Meshhed.
The Kazandjik-Kizyl Artek Line. A second major railway project undertaken by the Turkmen government was the Kazandjil-Kizil Artek railway to Bender Turkmen, Iran. With over 225 kilometers of track and a projected annual line capacity of four million tones, this railway was built to facilitate northern-southern transit traffic from Uzbekistan, Kazakstan and Russia to Iran and Turkey; to promote increased extraction and delivery of resources from Turkmen mines, gas and oil fields; to promote development of the land irrigated by the Kara -Koum Canal; and to relieve traffic on the Turkmenbashi-Ashgabat-Chardjev-Tashaouz line.
The Kazandjik-Kizyl Kaya Line. A third line, the Kazandjik-Kizyl Kaya rail line, running about 170 kilometers, is being built to serve the numerous mines and mineral reserves in the Kizyl Kaya region of Turkmenistan, which include gold, platin, coal and clay deposits.
The Chardjev-Kerkichi Line, over 215 kilometers in length, promotes trade to the Middle East via Afghanistan and Peshawar, Pakistan via Kabul (by road) and Karachi (by rail). Reducing the distance traditionally required to transport goods to the Middle East by over 15 kilometers, the new Kazandjik-Kizyl Kaya line will save Turkmeni exporters an estimated US$6-8 per tonne of freight export. Similarly, the line will promote the efficient transport of goods required for the development of the Amou-Daria River bank, and will also permit direct rail links to the Kerkichi area without necessarily going through Bukhara.
The Turkmenbashi-Koulisol-Bekdash Line toYeraliyevo, Kazakstan, is another international link providing Turkmen businesses with a direct connection to Iran via Kazakstan. With over 400 kilometers of line planned, this line promises to be a major international traffic route. Already, about 18 kilometers of line have been built between Turkmenbashi and Koulisol, allowing the Caspian littoral area, and especially the Bekdash salt mines, to have means of exporting their goods. This line can also promote direct export of petrol to Kazakstan, Russia and Ukraine via direct links between the Turkmen Railway and the Kazakstan Railway, thus eliminating the traditional reliance on a long detour via Chardjev, or transits via Uzbekistan.
In addition to these lines, Turkmenistan is developing a rail line around Lake Van, replacing traditional reliance on slow ferry routes across the lake. This project will facilitate the transit of goods from the Gulf eastward to Beijing, north to Russia, or west to Europe. Subsequently, the new Iranian rail network at Bafq is ready, and will facilitate greater rail linkage throughout Central Asia.
As evidenced by Table 2, Turkmenistan s development of a rail infrastructure has expanded its network of trade to countries like Cyprus and Austria, and facilitated the expansion of traditional trade networks with countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia. Undoubtedly, the emergence of these new rail networks will greatly facilitated further economic growth in Turkmenistan in the near future, and will allow the country to witness economic wealth that rivals the wealth of Kuwait.
References
1. The Economist, December 2, 1995, p. 42.
2. The US Department of State Dispatch, May 2, 1994: Vol. 5, No. 19.
3. Gavan McDonell, The Euro-Asian Corridor: Freight and Energy Transport in Central Asia and the Caspian Region, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, July 1995.
4. Final Report of the Commission of the European Communities,
The Railway Department and Management Training, Turkmenistan, 1994.