Putin: Russian investments in Tajik economy hit $1.5 bln
By Aynur Jafarova
21 percent of Tajikistan's total foreign trade turnover falls to Russia and Russian investments in the Central Asian state's economy have hit $1.5 billion, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with his Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon who was on an official visit to Moscow on August 1.
Rahmon, in turn, expressed confidence that the parties would reach mutual understanding on military cooperation, economy and trade, Russian oil products' duty-free supplies to Tajikistan and other issues.
Following the talks, Presidents Putin and Rahmon held a joint press conference where the Tajik president said that his country will ratify the agreement on the Russian military base in autumn 2013, ITAR-TASS reported.
The agreement on the status of the base was signed by the Russian and Tajik presidents in October 2012. According to this document, the presence of Russian servicemen in Tajikistan is extended for 49 years from the date of commencement of the first agreement, May 25, 1993, that is, until 2042. After that period, the agreement may be extended anew.
The 201st base is the largest Russian land military base on foreign territory. Around 6,000 Russian soldiers and officers serve there. It was established to maintain peace and order in Tajikistan and assist border troops and the Tajik Defense Ministry in fulfilling their tasks.
Furthermore, Rahmon said that Tajikistan is interested in the construction of four new hydropower plants of medium capacity by Russia.
The Russian president told journalists that Russia and Tajikistan have agreed to work together to quickly solve the migration problem, RIA Novosti reported.
"The money transfers of Tajik citizens residing and working in Russia play a significant role in the maintenance and development of the Tajik economy," Putin said. "The cooperation in the migration area was also discussed. We have agreed to work together to quickly resolve the problems emerging in this sphere."
Putin also said that the two countries agreed to step up the efforts to combat terrorism, drug trafficking and trans-border crime.
"I would like to stress the overlapping of our approaches to the situation in Afghanistan, as well as taking into account the upcoming withdrawal of coalition forces from Afghanistan in 2014," Putin said following the talks with his Tajik counterpart. "We agreed to intensify the efforts to combat terrorism, drug trafficking and trans-border crime."
Referring to the results of the negotiations between the presidents of Russia and Tajikistan, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said that according to preliminary estimates, Russia can allocate $150-200 million under the Tajik army rearmament program until 2025, RIA Novosti reported.