Russian president starts visit to Uzbekistan

Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Uzbekistan to discuss the sale of Uzbek agricultural products to Russia with Uzbek President Islam Karimov, according to Putin’s aide Yuri Ushakov, TASS reports.

The sides will discuss the debt worth about $890 million Uzbekistan owes Russia. $500 million of the sum is debt and $388 million is the interest rate.

Russia and Uzbekistan plan to sign an intergovernmental agreement on settlement of mutual financial demands and obligations, an agreement on development and deepening of economic cooperation in 2015-2019, an inter-departmental protocol on exchange of results of research of confiscated narcotics and psychotropic substances and a program for cooperation between the Russian and Uzbek foreign ministries in 2015.

Ushakov reminded that the trade turnover between the two countries had totaled $4.6 billion in 2013, increasing by over 8% in 9 months this year, making Uzbekistan the fourth-largest trading partner of Russia among CIS states.

Putin and Karimov will discuss problems with Uzbek gas supplies in the southern districts of Kyrgyzstan, water consumption in Central Asia, and exchange opinions on international problems, including the situation in Afghanistan.

Putin’s visit to Uzbekistan was arranged at the SCO summit in Dushanbe in September 2014. His visit to the republic will be concluded by an official dinner. The Russian leader will then visit India.