representation:
NA
US:
Ambassador-designate Joseph HULINGS; Embassy at Yubilenaya Hotel, Ashgabat
(Ashkhabad) (mailing address is APO; AE 09862); telephone [8] (011)
7-3630-24-49-08

:Turkmenistan Government

Flag:
green field with five claret carpet gels (that is, a repeated carpet
pattern) on the hoist side; a white crescent and five white stars in the
upper left corner to the right of the carpet gels

:Turkmenistan Economy

Overview:
Like the other 15 former Soviet republics, Turkmenistan faces enormous
problems of economic adjustment - to move away from Moscow-based central
planning toward a system of decisionmaking by private enterpreneurs, local
government authorities, and, hopefully, foreign investors. This process
requires wholesale changes in supply sources, markets, property rights, and
monetary arrangements. Industry - with 10% of the labor force - is heavily
weighted toward the energy sector, which produced 11% of the ex-USSR's gas
and 1% of its oil. Turkmenistan ranked second among the former Soviet
republics in cotton production, mainly in the irrigated western region,
where the huge Karakumskiy Canal taps the Amu Darya.
GDP:
purchasing power equivalent - NA, per capita $NA; real growth rate -0.6%
(1991 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
85% (1991)
Unemployment rate:
20-25% (1991 est.)
Budget:
NA
Exports:
$239 million (1990)
commodities:
natural gas, oil, chemicals, cotton, textiles, carpets
partners:
Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
Imports:
$970 million (1990)
commodities:
machinery and parts, plastics and rubber, consumer durables, textiles
partners:
NA
External debt:
$650 million (end of 1991 est.)
Industrial production:
growth rate 4.1% (1991)
Electricity:
3,170,000 kW capacity; 14,900 million kWh produced, 4,114 kWh per capita
(1990)
Industries:
oil and gas, petrochemicals, fertilizers, food processing, textiles
Agriculture:
cotton, fruits, vegetables
Illicit drugs:
illicit producers of cannabis and opium; mostly for domestic consumption;
status of government eradication programs unknown; used as transshipment
points for illicit drugs to Western Europe
Economic aid:
NA
Currency:
As of May 1992, retaining ruble as currency
Exchange rates:
NA
Fiscal year:
calendar year

:Turkmenistan Communication