Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Russia's President Vladimir Putin held talks on May 27 in an expanded format with the participation of the official delegations of both countries.
According to the Uzbekistan President, Vladimir Putin's visit can rightfully be called historic, marking the beginning of a new era in the comprehensive strategic partnership and alliance between our countries. Mirziyoyev emphasized that Uzbekistan-Russia cooperation has reached an unprecedented level, covering all areas and directions of interstate interaction.
The head of state stated that Uzbekistan advocates for further development of active political dialogue and exchanges, suggesting expanding systematic and intensive contacts at the level of parliaments, governments, ministries, departments, regions, public, expert, and business circles. He proposed holding regular meetings of the joint commission at the level of heads of governments and intergovernmental commissions by the end of the year.
Mirziyoyev highlighted Uzbekistan's priority in expanding cooperation in the trade and economic sphere. According to statistics, trade turnover has increased by 30% since the beginning of the year, and over the past seven years, this figure has grown 2.5 times. The President announced the goal to reach a trade turnover of $30 billion in the near future, with discussions already underway to achieve this target. In 2023, Russia fell to the second place among trading partners, showing a 5.3% growth in trade compared to the previous year's 22.9%, reaching $9.88 billion.
In the coming months, a full-fledged trade representation of Uzbekistan will be launched in Russia to facilitate trade deals and economic projects. Mirziyoyev stressed the importance of continuing expert-level work to assess and identify additional reserves for increasing trade turnover, including within import substitution programs.
The President reported that over 3000 joint ventures and projects are currently operating in Uzbekistan, with a cooperation project portfolio totaling around $45 billion. Additionally, new projects in energy, metallurgy, petrochemicals, engineering, mining, agriculture, logistics, pharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence, and other sectors, with a combined value of over $20 billion, have been discussed in addition to the summit.
Mirziyoyev named Russia a strategic partner in the supply of natural gas, oil, and petroleum products, highlighting agreements on the modernization of the gas transportation system, increasing gas, oil, and petroleum product supplies, and implementing projects with leading Russian companies in hydrocarbon processing.
The head of state acknowledged dozens of agreements on the scientific and practical implementation of joint programs and projects, the opening of centers and branches of Russian universities, including the Bauman Moscow State Technical University.
Earlier, Mirziyoyev announced that the parties would sign an "important agreement" on the implementation of a project to build small nuclear power plants in Uzbekistan.
