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Vladimir Putin: Dear Nursultan Abishevich!

Dear ladies and gentlemen!

The President of Kazakhstan and I already had the opportunity to discuss our bilateral relations when we met in the People’s Republic of China and today the results of the intergovernmental commission were of primary importance to us.

We think that, as a whole, the commission’s results are positive ones. We are directing our governments to continue working actively in the key areas in which we cooperate.

We never forget about cooperation in the energy sector, the development of hydrocarbon resources, or the natural resources of the Caspian Sea. Yet, of course, today a different topic, namely cooperation in the space sector at Baikonur, was the focus of our attention.

We also discussed the development of the whole range of our economic and trade relations. Let me point out that we are both convinced that this year we can reach a volume of trade that amounts to 10 billion USD.

Cooperation along our borders is an important part of our relations. And the President of Kazakhstan and I agreed that we will take part in the Forum of Border Regions that will take place in Kazakhstan in October 2006.

Today we signed a number of documents designed to improve the legal foundations of Russian-Kazakhstan cooperation.

First and foremost I will draw your attention to our Joint Statement on deepening cooperation in space exploration. Cooperation in this promising, high-tech field is producing concrete results that benefit both states. As you know, Kazakhstan’s first satellite, Kazsat, will be launched tomorrow. Undoubtedly, this is a very significant event.

But our cooperation is not limited launching a communications satellite. We will also embark on a large joint programme in space exploration. This will implicate joint research, personnel training, as well as creating the corresponding communication systems and management resources.

An agreement was signed between the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications of the Russian Federation and the Agency of Information and Communications of the Republic of Kazakhstan. It will allow us to resolve a number of technical issues with respect to telecommunications.

We consider that the Eurasian Development Bank has an important role to play in implementing integration projects. Let me remind you that the President of Kazakhstan put forward this idea two years ago during our meeting in Tajikistan. I actively supported this idea. I am very happy that today we are in the last stages of implementing these plans.

All procedures regarding the entry into force of the agreement on establishing the bank have been completed. Now we must turn to practical affairs. Russia and Kazakhstan have allocated significant financial means – let me remind you that these sums amount to one billion USD and 500 million USD respectively – of authorized capital that will enable us to attract an important amount of financial resources to accomplish various integration tasks.

I am convinced that the Bank’s work will be successful and I think that the agreement on the conditions whereby the Bank can operate on Kazakhstan’s territory will facilitate the Bank’s work.

In conclusion I would like to once again thank our friends and partners in Kazakhstan for their excellent organisation of the international CICA summit meeting.

Thank you very much for your attention.