Russia and Tajikistan are “very close” to signing an agreement extending Russia’s lease of a military base in the Central Asian state, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said, RIAN reports.
Talks on the extension of the lease, which expires in 2014, came into a deadlock earlier this year as the sides could not agree on the length of the new lease and the payment terms.
Moscow planned to extend the lease of the base for 49 years, but Dushanbe proposed to cut the extension to 10 years. Tajik authorities also demanded that Russia pay at least $250 million a year for the lease.
Under the current agreements Russia does not pay Tajikistan for its military base, but renders the country military and technical assistance.
Shuvalov did not specify the terms of the new agreement.
