Turkmenistan: Russian Pipe Supplier Finds New Customer in Ashgabat

A leading Russian manufacturer of gas pipes says Gazprom is no longer a priority customer. Instead, the company is looking to ship its pipes to Central Asian nations, including Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

A stagnant energy market is forcing the Izhorsky Pipe Plant to look for new business, General Director Oleg Urnev told the Russian daily Kommersant in an article published May 12. "In a situation where the implementation of investment projects by our key customer, Gazprom, is postponed, we intend to expand our portfolio by supplying the world market," he said.

"In 2009, we first began to ship pipes to Turkmenistan, the volume of deliveries for this year is about 100,000 tons. We're also working on options to ship pipes to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Algeria and other countries," he added.

Igor Krajewski, an analyst with PioGlobal Asset Management, told Kommersant that short term demand for new pipes would inevitably be dogged by geopolitical issues beyond the scope of Izhorsky's management team.