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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Atambayev, friends,

I am glad to welcome you at this expanded format meeting.

We have discussed bilateral issues, our ongoing projects and plans for the future in great detail. I suggest that we now give the floor to our colleagues – ministers and heads of agencies – who are responsible for the implementation of our strategic documents.

We have with us today the ministers and heads of companies that are working in Kyrgyzstan. I propose we start with them after we listen to what President of Kyrgyzstan has to say.

President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev: Thank you, Mr President,

To begin, I would like to thank you for your warm and heartfelt welcome and for your understanding of our problems. We are also grateful for the considerable support we have received from Russia during my presidency and also in 2011, when I was prime minister.

I am glad that our relations have moved from mistrust and mutual complaints to mutual understanding. We have reached a new level of relations based on strategic partnership. Also, I would like to say that our relations, especially economic cooperation, have grown stronger since Kyrgyzstan acceded to the Eurasian Economic Union. Despite gloomy forecasts, our accession to the EAEU has given a powerful boost to Kyrgyzstan’s economic development.

We have just discussed the figures at the restricted meeting, mentioning 20 percent and 30 percent increases. Of course, ordinary Kyrgyzstani nationals who work here could not fail to feel the difference in terms of their working environment.

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the success of the Kyrgyzstan-Russia Development Fund. I would also like to thank the intergovernmental commission, as well as Russian ministries and agencies for providing various kinds of assistance to Kyrgyzstan.

Of course, we should not forget the cultural and humanitarian dimension of our relations. It is highly symbolic that today we will be inaugurating at the Grand Kremlin Palace the Days of the Kyrgyzstani Culture in Russia. On July 20, we will welcome Russian researchers and experts at the forum Altai Civilization and Related Peoples of the Altai Language Family, since it is high time that we emphasise that Russia is the ancestral home not only for the Kyrgyz people, but also for a number of other Central Asian nations. I hope that Russia will be well represented at and actively contributes to the forum.

I would also like to say that our two countries share a long-standing, millenary history. I strongly believe that we also have a shared future ahead of us.

As I told you today during the flower-laying ceremony at the Eternal Flame and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, I thought that this Unknown Soldier could be my great uncle Kulmambet Atambayev, who died somewhere in Russia, and we do not know where he was buried.

This is our shared history, and I am confident that we must preserve our brotherhood and friendship. We should definitely have a shared future.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much.

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