Hyundai Engineering Co. and LG International Co. said Thursday that they have "in effect" clinched a combined $4.8 billion worth of deals to improve and build plants in Turkmenistan.
  

The consortium led by the two will sign a $940 million contract with Turkmenistan's state-run oil company on Monday to modernize refinery plants there, they said.
  

The deal is designed to construct facilities that remove sulfur from gasoline and diesel produced by plants located 500 kilometers northwest of its capital Ashgabat. The project will take 42 months to be completed.
  

The consortium also plans to sign a "framework agreement" with the country's state-run gas company to build a gas-to-liquid plant.
  

The $3.89 billion plant, which produces naphtha by processing natural gas, will be located near the capital city. The official contract is expected to be signed later, they said
  

The two deals will be officially signed in time for Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow's visit to South Korea from Saturday to Tuesday.
  

The large-scale deals came after President Park Geun-hye visited Turkmenistan in June of last year as part of her three-country tour in the region.
  

Company officials said the government's support during the presidential visit helped boost their odds to secure the massive construction deals. (Yonhap)