This week’s Majlis podcast looks at Turkmenistan’s economic crisis.
Turkmenistan has the fourth-largest reserves of natural gas and once, decades ago, the leadership of the country was predicting it would become a second Kuwait.
Instead, the country has reached the point where the government is compensating for shortfalls in revenue by putting the burden on the people of Turkmenistan.
Muhammad Tahir, RFE/RL's media relations manager, moderated a discussion on the latest signs from Turkmenistan showing the extent of the steep economic downturn.
From Scotland, Dr. Luca Anceschi, a lecturer in Central Asian studies at the University of Glasgow, participated. From London, Maximilien Lamberston, an analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit who covers the Balkans, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Russia, joined the discussion. From Prague, the director of RFE/RL's Turkmen Service, Farruh Yusupov, told the Majlis some of what he has been hearing out of Turkmenistan lately. And I chipped in a few comments, too.
Listen to the podcast below or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes.
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Majis Podcast: More Signs Of Turkmenistan’s Economic Meltdown