By Michael Ochs Michael Ochs, PhD is a Professional Staff Advisor at the Comission on Security Cooperation in Europe, US Congress. This article is adapted from the Comission's report on the December 1994 parliamentary election in Turkmenistan. Geography is a mixed blessing. Turkmenistan was one of the least developed former Soviet republics before becoming independent in October 1991. Preaching the overriding priority of stability and proclaiming the uniqueness of Turkmenistan's path, Niyazov has maintained state subsidies of basic goods and services.
Many prices remain regulated and small scale privatization has only just begun.
Nevertheless, inflation has already struck hard at people's living standards. The fly in the ointment for landlocked Turkmenistan is the absence of a gas pipeline to the outside world, independent of the Russian controlled grid. In November 1993, Moscow cut Turkmenistan's access to a Russian pipeline to Europe and redirected the gas to Ukraine and Transcaucasian countries. Problems in collecting payment from them and Moscow's show of control, spurred Niyazov to accelerate the construction of a pipeline from Turkmenistan through Iran to Turkey and thence to Western Europe. The pipeline could potentially transport some 28 billion cubic meters of gas annually, providing Turkmenistan with substantial hard currency revenues.