The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan has issued a statement for press in relation to information appearing in certain Russian mass media outlets "on the pipeline rupture in Turkmenistan and one sided comments by Gasprom company on this incident".

In this regard, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan said that on 8 April 2009 Russian Gazexport company, without informing Turkmenistan in advance, sharply reduced the volume of Turkmen natural gas being taken from the pipeline. As a result of this, on the night from 8 to 9 April a rupture occurred in the section of the CAC-4 gas pipeline through which Turkmen natural gas is supplied to Russia.

The ministry of foreign affairs regards such actions by Gazexport as ill considered and irresponsible because it created a real threat to peoples' lives and health and can lead to unpredictable ecological consequences.

"As the same time, such an approach is a unilateral, rude violation of the terms of the take-or-pay gas supply contract," the ministry's statement said.

Taking the above-mentioned into account, the Turkmen side expects the management of relevant Russian companies to thoroughly look into the incident, including the conduct of their employees, and take measures to prevent such incidents from happening again, the Turkmen foreign ministry noted.