The Astrakhan Region has been developing multifaceted relations with Turkmenistan for many years. The main framework of these relations is defined by the Agreement between the Government of the Astrakhan Region and the Government of Turkmenistan on Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation, signed in 2008.
The Consulate of Turkmenistan has been operating in Astrakhan since 2013. In 2019, the Astrakhan–Turkmen Joint Business Council was established. In 2022, an Agreement between the Government of the Astrakhan Region and the Administration of the Balkan Region was signed, and twin-city relations were established between Astrakhan and Turkmenbashi.
In the economic sphere, our most illustrative success has been in shipbuilding. Between 2009 and 2018, major contracts totalling over 750 million US dollars were implemented, including the construction of drilling platforms and replenishment ships for Turkmenistan, which is a demonstration of the high level of technological partnership.
Cooperation in the humanitarian area plays a significant role in our relations. The opening in 2019 of the Magtymguly Fraghi School in the village of Funtovo, Privolzhsky District of the Astrakhan Region was one of the most symbolic milestones. It was built with funds provided by Turkmenistan. The school offers optional courses in the Turkmen language, taught by a teacher seconded from the Ministry of Education of Turkmenistan.
Astrakhan and Turkmenistan also maintain close cultural ties. In 2009, a monument to the Turkmen poet and philosopher Magtymguly Fraghi was unveiled in Astrakhan as a gift from Turkmenistan. Numerous reciprocal Days of Culture of the Astrakhan Region and Turkmenistan have been held, further strengthening humanitarian cooperation.
Turkmenistan has historically occupied a special place in Astrakhan’s international relations. It is more than a strategic partnership in the economic and humanitarian domains – it is a long-standing friendship built on mutual respect for traditions and a deep understanding of each other’s interests.
We cooperate closely in a wide range of areas – trade, logistics, industry and education. As of last year, our trade turnover with Turkmenistan increased by 15 percent. We export food products and grain-based goods to the Turkmen market and import Turkmen textiles. We are interested in expanding the range of goods traded between our regions.
The Astrakhan Region is ready to supply a wide range of agricultural and industrial products to Turkmenistan. The launch of a regular shipping line between Astrakhan ports and the port of Turkmenbashi will help boost trade volumes. This issue is currently being discussed with our Turkmen partners. Astrakhan’s port facilities can handle all types of vessels and cargo. Moreover, the region hosts Russia’s only Special Port Economic Zone, where a comprehensive transport and logistics infrastructure for waterborne cargo is actively being developed.
Astrakhan could become the main hub for handling and distributing Turkmen goods in Russia, as well as organizing the delivery of Russian products to Turkmenistan. In this regard, we are fully interested in establishing a Turkmen Logistics Center in our region.
In 2023, an Agreement and Memorandum of Intent were signed in Ashgabat to create such a logistics center in the Astrakhan Region. The opening of this center will help further increase trade volumes between Russia and Turkmenistan.
We also see great prospects for cooperation in shipbuilding, given our many years of successful experience in this field. We invite our Turkmen partners to expand cooperation in this area, including through industrial partnerships with the Balkan Shipyard.
We remain open to new ideas for expanding our cooperation with Turkmenistan and remain determined to make every effort to strengthen our comprehensive partnership.
Contacts in the humanitarian sphere play one of the leading roles in cooperation between Astrakhan Region and Turkmenistan. We have developed close ties in education, culture and youth policy.
There are cooperation agreements between higher education institutions of the Astrakhan Region and Turkmenistan. In 2022, the Astrakhan State University named after V. N. Tatishchev signed an Agreement on Education with Magtymguly Turkmen State University. The university has also signed cooperation agreements with the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, the International University for the Humanities and Development, the Turkmen Agricultural University named after S. A. Niyazov, and the Joint Turkmen–Russian Secondary School named after A. S. Pushkin.
Since 2023, diplomas of higher and secondary specialized education by Astrakhan State University and Astrakhan State Medical University (of the Russian Ministry of Health) have been officially recognized in Turkmenistan.
More than 2,700 students from Turkmenistan currently study at universities and specialized colleges in the Astrakhan Region. We are ready to expand cooperation in this field – including training professionals in shipbuilding, navigation, the oil and gas industry, fisheries and many other areas.
The Magtymguly Fraghi School in Funtovo has established friendly ties with the Joint Turkmen–Russian Secondary School named after A. S. Pushkin in Ashgabat. Students and teachers regularly meet via video conferences and organize joint events, and last year the two schools signed a twinning agreement.
Astrakhan annually hosts major international events on Caspian issues. One of them is the Caspian Seasons Festival of Classical Art, whose concert program features a joint symphony orchestra of the Caspian countries, including musicians from Turkmenistan.
Representatives of Turkmenistan also actively participate in the Caspian Media Forum, held in Astrakhan since 2015. Turkmen experts regularly speak at panel sessions and meetings, while Turkmen journalists have repeatedly won the Caspian Without Borders award for the best journalistic work.
Youth delegations from Turkmenistan also take part in our educational forum “BeregA”.
During my tenure as Governor of the Astrakhan Region, I have had the privilege of visiting Turkmenistan seven times. The first visit took place in August 2019, when a large Astrakhan delegation travelled to Awaza to attend the Caspian Economic Forum. It was my first foreign trip as head of the region and left me with the warmest impressions. I was struck not only by the scale of the event and the highest level of its organization but also by the breathtaking views of the Caspian Sea from that unique resort area.
In 2021, I made my first visit to Ashgabat. That trip was memorable for the meaningful meeting with Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who was then President of Turkmenistan.
I was especially impressed during my visit to Turkmenistan as part of the Caspian Sea Friendship Motor Rally, which I completed riding a motorcycle. The motorcade travelled from Turkmenbashi to Ashgabat. In Turkmenbashi, we visited the Orthodox Church of St. Michael the Archangel – a gift from the Astrakhan Diocese, originally brought here in 1895 by Russian soldiers from the flooded Uzun-Ada Peninsula.
In Ashgabat, I held a productive meeting with President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov. We discussed bilateral cooperation in trade, logistics and transport, industry and education. During the rally, I also visited the Joint Turkmen–Russian School named after Pushkin, where I met with teachers and schoolchildren.
I believe that even more vivid impressions lie ahead, as new examples of successful, mutually beneficial cooperation between Turkmenistan and the Astrakhan Region continue to emerge.