, Sept 4, IRNA -- Iran`s Energy Minister Habibollah Bitaraf
arrived in Turkmenistan on Thursday to discuss promotion of
Tehran-Ashkhabad cooperation, IRNA reported from Ashkhabad.
Bitaraf was welcomed by his Turkmen counterpart at
Ashkhabad Airport.
He is scheduled to meet with Turkmen President Saparmurat
Niyazov Thursday evening.
Bitaraf is to explore avenues for expansion of Tehran-Ashkhabad
cooperation and sign an agreement for cooperation in the field of
electricity energy with Turkmen energy ministry officials.
Iran`s Special Envoy for Caspian Affairs Mehdi Safari and
energy ministry`s deputies for water and electricity affairs are
accompanying Bitaraf in his tour.
Tehran and Ashkhabad signed an agreement on export of
Turkmenistan`s electricity to the Iran in May, 2003.
The agreement was signed between Iranian Deputy Energy Minister
for Electricity Affairs Massoud Hojjat and the Turkmen minister of
energy and industries.
It follows a directive by President Niyazov to authorize the
Ministry of Energy and Industries to proceed on a deal on exporting an
annual volume of 640 million kilowatts of electricity to Iran.
Under the directive, the value of a kilowatt-hour of electricity
that Turkmenistan would export to Iran would be two US cents, and
the annual value of the total exports would be Dlrs 12.8 million.
... Payvand News - 9/4/03 ... --
