TAPI pipeline construction (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) followed a series of negotiations between the Turkmen authorities and the Afghan government led by the Taliban
Ashgabat
Enterprises of the state concern “Turkmengaz” are sending their specialists and workers to Afghanistan for the construction of the Afghan section of the TAPI gas pipeline (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India), Radio Azatlyk sources report.
They are being sent for three months, their number amounts to thousands of workers, including oil and gas specialists, installers, and workers, an informed source said.
According to several oil and gas enterprise specialists in Balkanabat, workers are being urgently taken and do not require foreign passports for the trip.
“They said everyone should be in Afghanistan by March 15,” a worker from the oil and gas enterprise told the radio.
Read: Pakistan agrees to legally protect Turkmenistan’s investments in TAPI
The publication “Meteozhurnal,” analyzing satellite images, concludes that the Turkmen-Afghan border line is beyond the control of Turkmenistan’s border guards.
Turkmen specialists participating in the construction of the Afghan section of the pipeline are offered an average monthly salary of $400.
It is expected that the salary will be paid in Turkmen manats at the Central Bank rate, which is approximately 1400 manats.
Reports of the TAPI pipeline construction (Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India) followed a series of negotiations between the Turkmen authorities and the Afghan government led by the Taliban.
According to Afghan media reports, on February 20, a meeting was held in Kabul between the general director of the TAPI Company, Mukhammetmurat Amanov, and the acting Minister of Mining and Petroleum of Afghanistan, Shahabuddin Delawar, to discuss the implementation of this project.
“Both sides emphasized the importance of the speedy implementation of the TAPI project,” the Afghan ministry said after the meeting.
From March 4 to 6, 2024, negotiations between the Afghan delegation and the Turkmen government were held in Ashgabat.
Construction of the 1800-kilometer-long transnational gas pipeline to deliver 33 billion cubic meters of gas annually to South Asian countries began in December 2015.
Afghanistan hopes that after the TAPI pipeline is put into operation, the country will receive over $200 million annually just for transit of Turkmen gas. In addition, this project could potentially create 12,000 jobs in Afghanistan, Afghan media report.
Read: Pakistan, Turkmenistan sign 4-nation gas pipeline implementation plan
The TAPI pipeline runs for 1800 kilometers, with about 800 kilometers passing through Afghanistan, crossing the provinces of Herat, Farah, Nimroz, Helmand, and Kandahar.
Construction of the TAPI pipeline, through which Turkmen gas is planned to be exported to South Asia, began in 2015. However, the unstable security situation in Afghanistan has created serious obstacles to the project’s implementation.
Afghan media quote a Taliban government spokesperson as saying that “Afghanistan guarantees security for the Afghan section of the TAPI pipeline.”
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Courtesy: Central Asian Light (Posted on March 14, 2024)
