Turkmen President earns over $11mln as his horse wins raceApril 29, 2013 - 09:22 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkmenistan's President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has won the first round of the horse racing, earning more than $11 million, RIA Novosti reported citing the Turkmen television. Seven horsemen took part in the first round on Sunday, April 28 as Turkmenistan celebrated its annual horse racing day. The Turkmen leader’s horse Berkarar (Powerful) ran the distance within 21.2 seconds, while his closest rival, who came second, finished in 21.9 seconds. Berdymukhamedov, who takes a personal interest in horse breeding, said he will use the sum he received from the race to support the country’s ailing horse industry. Local media reported last week, workers in Turkmenistan were forced to visit racecourses in anticipation of the nation's horse racing day, celebrated every last Sunday in April. The mandatory race-going started from early April. Public institutions sent their employees to the turf on Sundays to watch races. Those who failed to attend could face punishments including dismissal from work, the report said. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |