DUSHANBE, August 10. /TASS/. Tajikistan views Russia as its main partner and is set to boost trade with the country despite Western sanctions, Tajik First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade Ashurboy Solekhzoda told reporters on Thursday.

"In spite of sanction regimes imposed on our main trade partners, trade turnover with these countries has not declined and <…> it is planned to raise it to the maximum," he said.

According to Solekhzoda, Russia and Kazakhstan are his country’s main strategic partners.

"In Tajikistan’s overall foreign trade turnover, Russia holds the top spot and accounts for 24.8%, China comes second, followed by Kazakhstan with 16.4%. Belarus was ranked 11th, with 0.7% in the first half of 2023. Overall, Tajikistan’s foreign trade with its three EAEU [Eurasian Economic Union] partners stands at 40.3%. Therefore, Russia and Kazakhstan are Tajikistan’s main strategic partners," the deputy minister said.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin visited Tajikistan in June 2023. In his capacity as a co-chair of an intergovernmental commission, the Russian deputy premier said the two states have the potential for boosting bilateral trade.