Uzbekistan, Russian to sign employment agreement
By Aynur Jafarova
The Uzbek and Russian officials will start preparing an agreement on employment of Uzbek citizens in Russia in 2015.
The decision was made at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation between the two countries in Tashkent on November 26.
The two sides decided that the relevant departments exchange the
proposals on the draft intergovernmental agreement on employment
and recruitment of Uzbek citizens in Russia by late 2014.
They are expected to hold a meeting on relevant issues of labor
migration in the first quarter of 2015, including coordination of
proposals for rapid exchange of information and mutual opening of
representative offices in this area.
The sides’ positions will be worked out by July 2015. They will
form the basis of the forthcoming agreement.
According to the Russian Federal Migration Service, there are about
two million Uzbek citizens in Russia. The unofficial data show that
this figure is about four million.
As of 2013, the volume of money transfer from Russia to Uzbekistan
increased by 17.02 percent reaching $6.633 billion.
Following the meeting, the two countries signed a protocol, which envisages the signing of a Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) on the development of Jel gas and condensate field in Uzbekistan before March 1, 2015 by Uzbekistan and Russian Gazprom Company.
Under the protocol, the intergovernmental commission instructed the Uzbekneftegaz National Holding Company and Gazprom to hold negotiations before December10 on preparations for signing the agreement on the basic principles of developing the Jel field in accordance with the PSA terms.
The intergovernmental commission also instructed to prepare and conduct interstate procedures and sign a PSA on the Jel field.
Jel field, discovered in 2009-2011, is located near the Shakhpakhty block which is being operated by Gazprom and is linked to the main gas pipelines. Therefore, the development of the Jel field is cost-effective.
Relations between Uzbekistan and Russia successfully develop on the basis of the strategic partnership agreement dated June 16, 2004 and the treaty on allied relations dated November 14, 2005.
The trade turnover between the two countries exceeded $7 billion in 2013 and stood at $4.55 billion in the first nine months of 2014. They have potential to even more increase the volume of bilateral trade.
Currently, around 85 Russian firms and companies are operating in Uzbekistan. Meanwhile, some 512 enterprises with Uzbek capital operate in Russia.