If this can be linked to Turkmenistan, and if Mr Berdymuhammedov can resist Russian arm-twisting, then his country could become a big beneficiary of Russia's strained relations with Ukraine and of the uncertainty bedevilling Afghanistan and the Middle East.
Last December, in a transaction surreal even by Russian standards, Yuganskneftegaz, Yukos's main production arm, was forcibly sold in another rigged auction, to a front company registered at a provincial grocery shop.