The president of resources-rich Turkmenistan has fired several top officials in the energy sector, denouncing their "irresponsible approach" to their jobs, the official news agency reported.
At a meeting with the central Asian republic's heads of oil and gas companies, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov "noted with regret that an irresponsible approach by certain leaders to their jobs caused a number of deficiencies and negligences" in their work, the agency said Monday.
Berdymukhamedov dismissed the head of public company Turkmenneftegazstroy along with the chiefs of the country's state gas and oil enterprises, Turkmenneft and Turkmengaz.
The president criticized the "poor construction quality" of Turkmenistan's energy installations, delays in providing gas to towns and villages, and the absence of "needed measures to increase oil production."
Turkmenistan, a reclusive Caspian Sea country that has huge gas reserves, has been wooed by Western nations, China and Russia in their race for new resources.