Prior to that, Atabayev served as a commercial attaché in Turkmenistan’s embassy in Paris.

According to international analysts, today Atabayev has become a key figure for all international partners with regard to Turkmenistan’s oil and gas business. Previously these functions had been performed by the vice prime minister of the Turkmen government Tachberdy Tagiyev. Since February 2007 he has been acting as an official supervisor for Turkmenistan’s fuel and energy sector. However, as of December 2008, Tagiyev, who always represented Turkmenistan at all important summits and negations on oil and gas issues, started rapidly losing influence.

Since then Dovlet Atabayev has increasingly become more noticeable, influential and a key figure in the country’s external policies on issues related to the export of energy resources. It was he who made official statements at press conferences for international mass media on important issues, such as the diversification of routes of Turkmen gas exports, the mitigation of the accident on the Russian-Turkmen gas pipe line and restoration of gas supplies to Russia.

In 2009, at the CIS jubilee summit on oil and gas, Turkmenistan’s delegation was already headed by Atabayev, and not by Tagiyev.

The outcome of the June 2009 negotiations with China on financing the gas fields has further weakened the position of the vice prime minister.

At the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, Tagiyev reported that Beijing had agreed to allot 3 billion dollars to Turkmenistan. This agreement did not meet the President’s expectations and he urgently required a review of the outcome of the agreements. The second round of negotiations, which resulted in an increase of the allotted sum of up to 4 billion dollars, was already held without Tagiyev but with the participation of Dovlet Atabayev.