Vladimir Putin to Make a Visit to Tajikistan

Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin is setting off for an official visit to Tajikistan. Deputy chief of the Kremlin administration Sergei Prikhodko told RIA Novosti that issues of military and political co-operation, interaction in the security sphere, the Afghan developments and the situation at the Tajik-Afghan border would be discussed at the Russo-Tajik summit negotiations.

In addition, it is envisaged to discuss the legal framing of the status of the Russian military base in Tajikistan and the training of Tajik servicemen at Russian higher education establishments.

Bilateral trade-economic co-operation and the redemption of Tajikistan's debt to Russia will also be discussed at the negotiations. According to a source in the Kremlin, Moscow proposes paying off the $300 million debt by transferring some Tajik enterprises to Russian ownership. Russia is primarily interested in Tajik hydropower plants and aluminium-producing enterprises, the source said.

A number of bilateral agreements including an intergovernmental agreement on the construction and exploitation of a TV transmitting station in Tajikistan are to be signed in Dushanbe. The station, RIA Novosti's interlocutor said, to transmit Russian TV channels in the republic will be financed and owned by Russia.

In Dushanbe, Putin will also attend a summit of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) involving Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kirghizia and Tajikistan. The summit will take place on Sunday. On Monday, Dushanbe will host a summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation which comprises the same five countries and Armenia.