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Mr Putin’s one on one meeting with Mr Rakhmonov confirmed the steady progress and good prospects for bilateral relations, the Russian President said during expanded Russian-Tajik talks.

It is important now to raise trade and economic contacts to the high level of bilateral political relations, to develop interregional cooperation and extend the commodity assortment in Russian-Tajik trade.

Mr Putin stressed the excellent prospects for partnership in the hydropower industry, in particular, the finishing of the construction of the Sangtuda power plant. It is possible to implement the project within the EurAsEC framework as the first investment venture financed by member countries of the united EurAsEC economic space, he said.

The negotiators also discussed migration issues. Mr Putin acknowledged that problems arising with illegal Tajik immigration to Russia were largely bred by imperfections in the Russian legislation. There was another source of problems—drug trafficking to Russia and Europe via Tajikistan, he added.

The Presidents agreed to step up the drafting of an agreement on the terms and procedure of labour immigrant employment.

They also discussed bilateral defence partnership. As Mr Putin addressed a press conference summarising the talks, he said that the Russian military presence in Tajikistan was an essential factor in the security of the southern CIS borders. The Russian-Tajik border alliance was an irreplaceable part of the joint fight against international terrorism and drug trafficking.

The Presidents attended the signing of the cooperation programme of the two Ministries of Foreign Affairs for 2003 and the protocol on the exchange of the ratifications of the agreement of March 31, 1997, on the avoidance of double taxation and prevention of income and capital tax evasion.

Before the negotiations, Mr Putin laid flowers at the monument to 10th century statesman Ismail Samani, the founder of the first Tajik state.