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Askar Akayev: Ladies and gentlemen,

I appreciate Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin for the invitation to visit Sochi and discuss our bilateral relations and the prospects for their further development. To me it was probably the most fruitful meeting that we have ever had.

We have discussed the whole spectrum of cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and Russia in the political, trade-economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres and I am immensely satisfied with the results of our talk. I think we can give new momentum to closer cooperation between our countries and give an impetus to our trade and economic relations.

I am very glad that a meeting of our Prime Ministers will take place in Moscow the day after tomorrow. And they will discuss the real substance of our ten-year programme of trade and economic cooperation and sign some concrete agreements. Besides, it was important for me to consult with Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin on international issues ahead of the forthcoming visit to the United States. It is always important for Kyrgyzstan in such cases to get some advice and consultations from Russia, which is our strategic ally and partner.

In short, I have received great pleasure from the meeting and talks with Vladimir Vladimirovich and I have come away with a feeling of optimism regarding the future development of our relations.

Vladimir Putin: I would like to note that we have focused on the development of trade and economic ties. There are some positive shifts here. We have reaffirmed at the political level our readiness to support the activities of the inter-governmental commissions and government goals of promoting cooperation. As you know, the Chairman of the Government of Kyrgyzstan is to visit Moscow shortly. We will discuss it tomorrow with the Chairman of the Russian Government. There is a plan of practical actions and it will be implemented. It involves cooperation in the sphere of energy, above all power engineering, and the development of cooperation in industry, including the military-technical sphere.

As my colleague has said, we exchanged opinions on international issues and the interaction of our Foreign Ministries at various international organisations.

Above all, of course, we are talking about the CIS, EurAsEC, and the SCO. And, of course, the United Nations. I must say that Kyrgyzstan is not just any country for us: it is our strategic partner and ally. Of course, we closely follow what is happening in your country. We were alarmed over the reports about the assassination attempt against the Secretary of the Security Council of Kyrgyzstan. I hope that the relevant law enforcement agencies of Kyrgyzstan will assess that crime for what it is and carry out an investigation. For our part, we are ready to render every kind of assistance in this work. That makes the work of the President of Kyrgyzstan aimed at consolidating Kyrgyz society extremely important. I think in the current situation all the political forces should rally around the President to avoid any extreme manifestations. For our part, we are ready to do everything to support the policy pursued by the President of Kyrgyzstan. Especially since, as you know, Askar Akayevich has proclaimed the goal of creating a state in which human rights will be the focus of domestic policy as one of the ideas behind the consolidation of society.

We have discussed at length our interaction in the framework of the Collective Security Treaty and we intend to develop that organisation and create a legal framework – the relevant documents are being prepared and we expect that they will be signed shortly.

Question: At the start of your meeting you said that the relations between our states are very successful, fruitful and very dynamic, especially in trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian spheres. Could you be more specific about how our partnership will develop, especially in the military-technical sphere? It is very important for us.

And a question to you personally, Vladimir Vladimirovich. The Kyrgyz people look forward to seeing you. Will you not disappoint them? And when can we expect you to visit our republic?

Vladimir Putin: The second question is the easiest. The first, of course, is more serious. The President of Kyrgyzstan today came to Russia, to Sochi, with the expressed aim of promoting our interaction in every area and giving additional impetus to the work we have spoken about.

As for economics, as I said, the programme of interaction is being prepared and it is to be approved by the Prime Ministers of the two countries. It would probably be wrong to anticipate the results before they have agreed on all the areas of our cooperation. Our task is to create the political basis for such cooperation. I repeat, tomorrow I will have a serious talk about it with the Chairman of the Russian Government, and Askar Akayevich, when he is back home, will conduct the necessary work with the head of the Government of Kyrgyzia. I must say that the areas of activity are diverse. I have stressed that our trade has grown substantially and we will continue to move in this direction, creating the necessary conditions. We have plans in the energy sphere, as I have said, and RAO UES of Russia is currently in negotiations.

As for the defense industries, we had cooperation within the framework of the Soviet Union, and perhaps it can be restored, and we will seek to do that. You know better than I do the conditions in Kyrgyzstan, I mean the testing of weapons and their production, and indeed we can work jointly to increase exports. I wouldn’t like to go into detail, but if you approach the matter professionally, I can say that we are jointly developing the terms of our work for exportation. It is important, even before we launch joint production, to have a clear idea about how we will jointly sell these products. The experts in our two countries are working on draft documents. I hope that this work will yield a positive result.

As for the visit, we will agree on the details through the Foreign Ministry. I very much hope to be able to visit your country this year.

Askar Akayev: I might add that our cooperation in the military-technical sphere has been making great progress. In early 2002, we created a military-technical cooperation commission, which held very useful meetings in Moscow in April. Our republic will host the second meeting in October. We are talking above all about the revival of three major enterprises. You know that Dostan is a major instrument-making plant which should get a new lease on life through the use of the latest know-how and technologies. Next comes the Dzhanar plant. It is a former computer factory which today is trying out some new technologies jointly with the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry and other ministries. And the third large enterprise is for uranium processing. It is operating successfully on a trilateral basis with the participation of experts from Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. So, I think 2002 has been a very good year in that respect. And we are thinking of other projects.

I would like to make a specific comment on the energy situation. We have prepared an agreement. It has been finalised and is to be signed shortly with RAO UES of Russia. It involves the modernisation of five major power plants on the Naryn Cascade, which have been in operation for 40–50 years and are in need of modernisation. Perhaps the document will be signed during the Moscow visit of our Prime Minister, Nikolai Tanayev. The agreement will be effective for about ten years and affect five major power plants.

Today we discussed with Vladimir Vladimirovich where to get the resources, and the ways to launch cooperation in the building of the Kambaratinsky Cascade hydroelectric power plants. These will be the biggest power plants in the history of Kyrgyzstan; between them will they generate nearly 6 billion kilowatt/hours of electricity. That’s about half of the total amount of power Kyrgyzstan currently generates at all its hydroelectric and thermal power plants. So, it is a programme of long-term economic cooperation.

Vladimir Putin: I can add that, considering the plans of joint work and cooperation in various branches, the issue of labour migration takes on particular importance. Askar Akayevich raised this issue. I will give the relevant instructions to the Government. Experts on both sides will work on this issue so that the flow of migrants, above all labour migrants, is civilized, in the interests of both Russia and Kyrgyzstan and in line with the laws passed in the Russian Federation, to make sure that they do not hinder, but make our production and economic ties more civilised.

Askar Akayev: I would like to stress that it is particularly important for labour migrants from Kyrgyzstan. You know than more than 300,000 Kyrgyz people work in Russia, especially in the Urals and Siberia. They support their families this way. They engage in trade and business and, of course, this agreement may offer them favourable terms. The issue has always been a concern of our journalists. You can report that Vladimir Vladimirovich supports labour migration from Kyrgyzstan to Russia provided more favourable conditions are offered.

Question: Have you discussed today the further strengthening of the SCO and preparations for the CIS summit in Chisinau in October?

Vladimir Putin: Of course, we discussed it. I have already mentioned it. We touched upon SCO where some programmes and actions are being planned and Russia and, as President Akayev assures me, Kyrgyzstan will support the activities of that organisation. We know that many partners from other countries in the region have shown an interest in its work. We watch with interest the growing attention towards the SCO. But our position is that we have created that organisation above all to address the problems of its current member countries. We are ready to cooperate with other partners. A work plan exists, and it will be fulfilled.

And that is particularly relevant to the forthcoming meeting of the CIS heads of state in Chisinau. Experts are working to streamline the control bodies of the CIS. I do not expect any breakthroughs, but incremental improvement is necessary. We will look at this problem in more detail with our colleagues in Chisinau.

Askar Akayev: These two questions are connected with the cooperation of Kyrgyzstan within the framework of the CIS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. They were among the main questions I discussed with Vladimir Vladimirovich, because, as you know, Kyrgyzstan was faced with international terrorism in 1999–2000 and it was among the initiators of creating the CIS Anti-Terrorist Centre and an Anti-Terrorist Centre within the SCO. It is not by chance that a branch of the CIS Anti-Terrorist Centre has been set up in Bishkek. And an SCO anti-terrorist body will also be formed there. The Bishkek branch is already active. The first exercises were held this year. They were highly successful and they prove that it was a very timely and necessary decision. Today we have a mechanism that enables us to successfully resist all kinds of terrorism. Also this year, the collective rapid reaction force held its exercises in Kyrgyzstan. These were mutually complementary events because international terrorism is also changing its tactics. In 1999–2000, terrorists launched an open offensive in a bid to dismember our country. But apparently after the events of 2001, they will not dare to launch such aggressive actions, although they may still commit some terrorist acts. Today we are ready to confront and successfully neutralise such actions.

Within the SCO very active preparations are underway and we believe that these structures will be the main elements that will ensure stability and security in our region. And so it was one of the important issues I discussed with Vladimir Vladimirovich. I am grateful for his support of our actions aimed at creating a strong base for the activities of these organisations in Bishkek.