Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- The 19th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Uzbekistan was held in Moscow.

Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov and Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedev took part in the meeting.

Before the meeting of the commission, Dmitry Medvedev met with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan Abdulla Aripov.

The parties held meaningful negotiations in a narrow format. The heads of governments of the two countries discussed key issues of bilateral cooperation and preparations for the forthcoming visit of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to Uzbekistan in October 2018.

Dmitry Medvedev said: “Taking into account the strategic nature of Russian-Uzbek cooperation, we agreed to create a new mechanism for interaction - in some ways it is unique - it is a joint commission at the level of heads of governments.”

“I would like to express my satisfaction with the dynamics of cooperation between Russia and Uzbekistan in the trade and economic sphere. Last year, the volume of bilateral trade increased by one third. Growth in all major commodity groups was noted. In the first half of this year, this trend, which is important in itself, remains. The growth of mutual trade also amounted to almost a third - 32%. Russia again became top trade partner of Uzbekistan,” the head of the Russian government said.

According to him, there is a growth in trade in services. “Indicators of this, and last year look pretty convincing. As a result of 2018, we can reach the volume of US$1 billion,” he underlined.

“Russia remains the leading investor. Russian companies are successfully operating in the republic, major economic projects are being implemented. According to our estimates, the volume of accumulated investments is now approaching US$9 billion,” Medvedev said.

“As for sectoral cooperation, we are working productively in the oil and gas sector. Commissioning in April 2018 of the Kandym gas processing complex with a capacity of more than 8 billion cubic meters per year is an important event. A partnership has been established in geological exploration (for gas fields), in telecommunications, in cement production. Russian enterprises participate in the modernization of power facilities in Uzbekistan,” he added.

“There is cooperation in the financial and banking sphere. We are ready to share our experience in the field of budget forecasting, improving customs and tax legislation. This will create conditions for increasing the share of national currencies in mutual settlements and expanding interbank cooperation,” he stressed.

"Last year, a representative office of the Russian Export Center was opened in Uzbekistan. Projects have been taken into consideration in oil and gas chemistry, metallurgy and transport. All this clearly demonstrates that Uzbekistan today is one of our key and most promising foreign policy partners. And in many areas, there is a growth potential. This is industrial cooperation - there are great opportunities in the aviation industry, mechanical engineering, light industry, pharmaceuticals, medicine. I hope that all these initiatives will be implemented in the near future, or, in any case, they are being worked on,” Medvedev said.

He noted that the most significant joint project is the construction of a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan.

“As you know, Russia is the world leader in the field of peaceful atom, possesses all modern technologies. We are glad that the cooperation in this special, science-intensive industry moves forward. Today, an agreement on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan on Russian design will be signed. Survey work on the site has already begun,” Dmitry Medvedev said.

“Undoubtedly, the project is of a strategic nature. It is big, complex, but it creates a basis for high-tech cooperation between our countries for decades to come. This is a large-scale transfer of technology, the training of Uzbek specialists with a wide range of competencies. And this, to a certain extent, shifts Uzbekistan to a different level of technological development,” the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation said.

Medvedev welcomed the growth of exports of products from Uzbekistan to the Russian market and a counter increase in Russian supplies. “Thanks to the green corridor system, special conditions for phytosanitary control for suppliers have created generally favorable conditions. They use them, we see the result. It consists in the fact that the volumes are growing,” he added.

“At the same time the market of agricultural products is capacious. There is where to develop, there is in what direction to grow. I note the directions in which we could quickly and successfully advance: aquaculture, that is, fish farming, sugar supply, bakery production and the supply of fruit and vegetable products, which have also grown in recent years. Let’s analyze these opportunities,” Medvedev said.

Abdulla Aripov, in turn, said that Russia is a key strategic partner for Uzbekistan, and establishment of open and confidential personal contact between the Presidents of the two countries is a solid foundation for further development of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

“We positively assess the proposals of the Russian side to create a new format for the work of our commission, including working groups in the relevant areas. This will help further development of trade cooperation, as you noted, in agriculture, fuel and energy complex, engineering, information and communication technologies, light industry, food industry, transport and communications,” Aripov said.

“We are very grateful for the organization of the green corridor for agricultural products from Uzbekistan. And we are grateful that the Russian Federation has made a decision to simplify the definition of prices for light industry products. We very much hope that the same principles will be applied in the future and in relation to leather products,” the head of the government of Uzbekistan noted.

“Today we are witnesses and participants in a qualitatively new stage of cooperation between Uzbekistan and Russia, aimed at developing practical cooperation, achieving concrete results taking into account the interests of each other,” he added.

"I would like, like you, to note the dynamics. A little over a year ago, when we met with you in this hall, there was a proposal of the Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation on the supply of sugar products - about 100,000 tons, but in fact we imported more than 300,000 tons a year ago . We are very grateful to the Russian Federation for the supply of high-quality products and intend to continue this work,” Abdulla Aripov underlined.

“We have a huge potential for further development, mutually beneficial trade and economic cooperation. We have just outlined new directions in the field of mechanical engineering, which can be organized jointly, including for the needs of Uzbekistan, for the communal sphere, and other spheres. All these projects are verified and will be implemented,” he said. 

“We express our great gratitude to the leadership of the Russian Federation for the decision to render assistance in the construction of the nuclear power plant in Uzbekistan. This is a very important decision taken by the President of Uzbekistan. We thank our Russian colleagues for the fact that they approach this issue very thoroughly, fundamentally, treat Uzbekistan as a partner,” the Prime Minister of Uzbekistan said.

Aripov expressed gratitude to the largest Russian companies in the oil and gas sector, who believed in Uzbekistan, invested huge capital and helped the development of the industry of Uzbekistan.

“We are grateful to the financial organizations of the Russian Federation, first of all Gazprombank, for financing many projects in the oil and gas sector,” he added.

“We are very grateful to the Ministry of Finance of Russia, which supports almost all the proposed projects, and we hope that in this area we still have many directions that we could develop,” Abdulla Aripov said.

At the end of the meeting, Dmitry Medvedev and Abdulla Aripov signed the protocol of the 19th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Uzbekistan and an agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan on cooperation in construction of a nuclear power plant on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan.

The agreement envisages cooperation in the design, construction on the territory of Uzbekistan, commissioning and operation of a nuclear power plant consisting of two power units based on a water-water power reactor under a Russian project with the installed capacity of each power unit up to 1.2 GW.