SAINT PETERSBURG, November 1. /TASS/. The gas cooperation plan between Russia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan spans 15 years - a long-term cooperation deal might be signed in mid-2024, CEO of Gazprom Alexey Miller said.
"We have set a 15-year time frame for our cooperation with colleagues from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan," he said. "Meetings and negotiations have already taken place and will continue at the forum in order to sign memorandums in the current period with the goal of establishing a legally binding contractual basis by mid-2024 for cooperation with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan for 15 years in advance," Miller added.
At the same time, the press service of the government of Kazakhstan reported that Kazakhstan and Russia have agreed to mutually expand air traffic and increase transit traffic between the countries. "There are plans to increase transit traffic across the territory of the two countries, jointly develop road infrastructure and modernize checkpoints on the Kazakh-Russian border <...> In the field of air transport, Kazakhstan and Russia agreed to mutually expand air traffic," the press service said following a meeting in Turkestan of the intergovernmental Kazakh-Russian commission on cooperation chaired by Deputy Prime Ministers Serik Zhumangarin and Alexey Overchuk.
The press service clarified that as part of the planned expansion of air traffic, in particular, the parties agreed to increase the number of flights of the Kazakh airline Qazaq Air to Novosibirsk and Chelyabinsk.
The meeting also discussed plans for the further development of cooperation between the two countries in power generation and oil and gas sectors, and considered the prospects for a number of new projects in the housing sector.
The Russian side expressed interest in developing interaction in the digital sphere. "We look forward to continuing interaction as part of the subcommittee on information technology. Today, about 120,000 Kazakh suppliers are registered on Russian marketplaces, and their number is growing," Overchuk said as quoted by the press service.
Zhumangarin noted that in January-August 2023, the volume of trade between the countries amounted to $17 bln, which is a 1.1% increase year-on-year. According to the Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister, Russian companies are among the top five key investors in terms of the volume of funds invested in the economy of Kazakhstan. Over 17 years, the inflow of investments from Russia reached $19 bln. Kazakh investments in Russia exceeded $5.6 bln, the statement said.