Turkmenistan has repaid all its debts to Beijing

Turkmenistan has already repaid in full "all its debts to China for the construction of the pipeline and other gas projects." The Turkmen state media reported it on Saturday. China has invested billions in the development of the Turkmen gas industry and has become the largest export market for this isolated country. Beijing's most important projects in Turkmenistan are the gas pipeline, which runs through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, and the giant Galkynysh gas field, the second largest in the world. Gurbangula President Berdimuhamedov said on Saturday that the country had repaid all the loans China had given it for the pipeline and the first stage of development of the Galkynysh field, "on time and in full," according to an article in the daily Neutral Turkmenistan. In the same report, the daily also quoted Shahim Abdurachman from the Turkmen oil and gas industry, according to which the Chinese Development Bank confirmed on June 8 the full repayment of Turkmenistan's debts. Neither Berdimuhamedov nor Abdurachman have disclosed a specific amount. In 2011, then-President of China's Development Bank, Jiang Zhaoiang, said the bank had lent $ 8.1 billion (6.68 billion euros) to Turkmenistan for the project. The commodity started to flow through a pipeline called the Central Asia-China pipeline at the end of 2009 and currently has three branches. The fourth branch, known as "Line D", which would involve Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan as transit countries in the project, has yet to be completed. Exports of Turkmen gas to China exceed 30 billion cubic meters per year, which is about six to seven times the volume it sends to another large buyer, Russia. And while Turkmenistan regularly publishes favorable economic growth figures, reports from foreign ombudsmen suggest that the country is struggling with both the foreign exchange and food crises. President Berdimuhamedov admitted an economic failure earlier this year, a very rare move when he told the government to consider asking creditors to extend debt repayment deadlines. Hydrocarbon exports account for more than 90% of Turkmenistan's exports.