Russian PM to speak at business forum in Samarkand, meet his Uzbek counterpart

AMARKAND /Uzbekistan/, December 2. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin who is currently paying a visit to Uzbekistan, will hold talks with his Uzbek counterpart Abdulla Aripov and participate in a business forum between the two countries on Friday. Mishustin and Aripov are expected to speak at a plenary meeting of the Russian-Uzbek business forum, where representatives of business circles of the two countries’ regions discuss the expansion of cooperation in trade, transport, industry and logistics on December 1 and 2. Prime ministers of Russia and Uzbekistan are also expected to hold talks and a meeting of the joint commission at the level of heads of governments. This mechanism of cooperation between Moscow and Tashkent was established in 2018 at the initiatives of presidents of the two countries, Vladimir Putin and Shavkat Mirziyoyev, with two meetings held in 2019 and 2021. The upcoming meeting will focus on relevant issues of the development of the Russian-Uzbek cooperation, with particular attention paid to the deepening of cooperation in trade-economic, industrial, energy, investment and cultural-humanitarian areas. Prior to Mishustin’s visit to Samarkand Russian President Vladimir Putin had a telephone conversation with his Uzbek counterpart Shavkat Mirziyoyev to discuss economic cooperation, including "the promising joint projects." The press service of the Kremlin said that those issues would be considered at a meeting of the joint commission at the level of heads of governments of the two countries in Samarkand in detail. The idea of creating a gas union by Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan may become one of such promising projects. On November 28, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin discussed the creation of a "trilateral gas union" with Uzbekistan during a meeting in the Kremlin. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov explained that at the first stage it implies creating a coordination mechanism at the initiative of President Putin. Later it became known that it implies cooperation in processing and supplying gas, including to new export destinations. Photo by Dmitry Astakhov/POOL/TASS Read more