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Putin, Nazarbayev to attend Russia-Kazakhstan interregional coop'n forum in Yekaterinburg

On the strenght of its results, the sids will sign a treaty between the two countries on goodneighbourliness and allied relationship in the 21st century

MOSCOW, November 11 (Itar-Tass) - Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan will visit Yekaterinburg on Monday to attend the tenth jubilee Forum on interregional cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan. On the strenght of its results, the sids will sign a treaty between the two countries on goodneighbourliness and allied relationship in the 21st century, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov told journalists. "This will be a new basic document serving as a basis for contacts between our two countries in most diverse fields," Ushakov emphasized.

It is also planned to conclude an intergovernmental agreement on preventing and putting out forest and steppe fires, a protocol to the intergovernmental Agreement on cooperation in developing the gas condensate field Imashevskoye, an inter-agency memorandum of understanding on giving greater scope to interaciton in the field of industy, a roadmap on enhancing industrial co-production arrangements between Russia and Kazakhstan in the 2013-2014 period, as well as a number of documents on cooperation between regions, Ushakov added. Neither did he rule out that within the framework of the Forum, its participants would also discuss matters connected with the deliveries of oil and gas.

The Russian presidential aide pointed out that the Forum would begin with a meeting between Putin and Nazarbayev in a narrow format. During the conversation, the two Heads of State are expected to devote special attention to prospects for a further step-up of trade-and-economic contacts and for the deepening of integrational processes withn the scope of the Customs Union and Common Economic Space of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus. It is also expected that the Heads of State will touch upon the theme of interaction in the field of space research. They are also expected to exchange views on regional and international agendas.

Their conversation will be followed by the Forum's plenary session, at which economic-segment ministers and governors of Russian and Kazakhstani regions will be present. The session will be followed by a ceremony to sign documnts, as well as a statement for the press. "Later in the day our President will give a reception for participants," Ushakov added. Participants in the Forum will later on visit the Ural Locomotives plant.

The tw coountries' Presidents' meetings with the governors of regions have been held every year since 2003 alternately in Russia and Kazakhstan. This year industrial co-production arrangements will be the theme of the Forum. An exhibition on the theme of "Indusrial Co-Production Arrangements of the Regions" will be held on the sidelines of the Forum, as well as the Russia-Kazakhstan Business Council's enlarged session on cross-border cooperation. A youth forum will be also organized for the first time.

The forthcoming meeting between Putin and Nazarbayev will be already a fifth one in 2013.

In 2012, thetwo countries' reciprocal trade grew by 8.5 percent as compared with that in 2011 to run at $22.4 billion. Russian deliveries increased by 3.3 percent and import from Kazakhstan grew by almost 20 percent. In the January-August period of 2013, reciprocal trade incresed by 15.8 percent to amount to $17.9 billion, export to Kazakhstan growing by 13.5 percent to amount to $6.7 billion, and import from Kazakhstan by 20 percent. Seventy-six constituent entities of the Russian Federation maintain economic contacts with all the 14 Kazakhstani regions, as well as with Astana and Almaty. More than 5,000 joint-venture enterprises are in operation.

Russian companies make large capital investments in the economy of Kazakhstan: LUKOIL invested $5 billion, Gazprom -- $1 billion, Inter RAO UES -- $200 million, and RUSAL -- $400 million.

In the first half of 2013, Kazakhstan received $937.3 million from Russia in investments and investment revenue (a 42 percent increase as compared with those in the first half of 2012) and Russia received $1.7 billion from Kazakhstan (a 32 percent increase).