Russia to write off huge part of Uzbek debt
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By Aynur Jafarova
Russia will write off over $860 million of Uzbekistan’s debt.
A relevant agreement on settlement of mutual financial claims and liabilities was signed between two sides in a meeting attended by Uzbek President Islam Karimov and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin who is on an official visit to Tashkent.
The two countries also signed an intergovernmental agreement on the main directions of development and deepening of economic cooperation in 2015-2019.
Prior to the signing ceremony, the heads of the two countries held a bilateral meeting, during which Karimov stressed the need for exchanging views on the situation in Afghanistan, particularly, after the withdrawal of the coalition forces from the country.
President Karimov also said that Russia’s interest in Central Asia has always had a stabilizing character.
Relations between Uzbekistan and Russia is successfully developing on the basis of the strategic partnership agreement dated back on June 16, 2004 and the treaty on allied relations dated back in 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.