Uzbek leader and Russian vice-premier discuss trade-economic relations

On Friday Islam Karimov, President of Uzbekistan, in his residence Oksarai received Russian Deputy Prime Minister Boris Aleshin. He heads the Russian delegation at the 6th session of the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and Russia.

Islam Karimov and Boris Aleshin "exchanged opinions on many questions of the further development of trade-economic relations between Uzbekistan and Russia, removal of problems and discussed an outlook for bilateral cooperation," said the staff of the Uzbek president on Saturday.

It is planned to sign a joint protocol on results of the commission's session, said the Uzbek presidential staff.

As of now, 309 enterprises with the involvement of Russian investors, 43 of them with 100-percent Russian capital, operate in Uzbekistan today. The Russian Federation accounts for about a half of Uzbekistan's trade turnover with countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. In the first half of 2003 trade turnover between the two countries amounted to almost USD 500 million.