RUSSIA, February 24 - The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council’s meeting.

Excerpts from the transcript:

Alikhan Smailov: Mr Mishustin, welcome to Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan.

We are grateful to you for personally attending this meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council. Interaction between our countries is developing in compliance with the spirit and principles of the Agreement on Good-Neighbourliness and Alliance in the 21^st Century. Active political dialogue between President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin is key to the rapid growth of our cooperation in all areas.

The priorities of our bilateral cooperation were set out during a recent meeting of our presidents in Moscow on 10 February.

This year we will mark 30 years of diplomatic relations. Over that period of time, we have developed a stable, trust-based and constructive dialogue and have attained a high level of interaction.

We are grateful for your words of support and condolences over the tragedy in Almaty. I would like to thank our Russian friends and colleagues and all our CSTO allies for their support and prompt assistance.

The Russian Federation is the main trade and economic partner of Kazakhstan. In 2021, our trade increased by 29 percent.

Russian companies are among the top five investors in Kazakhstan. Russia is also the undisputed leader among companies with foreign capital in Kazakhstan. Companies with Russian capital account for over 30 percent.

We can see positive changes in our industrial cooperation. We are implementing eight major projects worth approximately $2.6 billion and another 12 projects worth $1.4 billion are on the table.

We are promoting our partnership in the implementation of oil and gas conversion projects. KazMunayGas and Tatneft are building up cooperation in this sphere. They have signed an agreement on the joint production of butadiene and butadiene rubbers. Another Russian investor, Sibur, has been attracted to the construction of plants to produce polyethylene and polypropylene.

We are also promoting cooperation in agroindustry. Last year, bilateral trade in this sector grew by 32 percent. But there is great untapped potential in this area. More efforts should be made to build up mutual trade, improve its structure and expand the product range. We invite the Russian agribusiness to cooperate more closely with us. For our part, we are ready to create the most favourable conditions for this.

Mr Mishustin, I am sure that the rate at which Russia-Kazakhstan cooperation has been developing will continue to grow in all areas. The Government of Kazakhstan is ready to provide all-round support to this.

Mr Mishustin, you have the floor.

Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon, Mr Smailov, friends,

First of all, I would like to thank you for warmly receiving the Russian delegation in Nur-Sultan. Mr Smailov, I would like to once again personally congratulate you on your appointment as Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan. I am absolutely confident that your substantial civil service experience will allow you to address all the large-scale tasks facing the Government of Kazakhstan.

Our current meeting in Nur-Sultan aims to strengthen our integration ties in the format of the Eurasian Economic Union, to facilitate the development of trade and economic cooperation in the interests of our states and our peoples. And, of course, not everyone likes this. Western countries sometimes try to divide us. Our presence here at this difficult time tells everyone that we stand together.

President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has assessed the current situation and set forth clear tasks for our country.

On 10 February, President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev held extremely detailed talks in Moscow. We also met with the President of Kazakhstan at the Government House. Following our talks, we adopted highly important decisions on expanding practical cooperation between Russia and Kazakhstan and advancing a number of new projects in the sphere of energy and some other areas, including industry, state-of-the-art technologies, education and culture, as well as other priority fields.                                             

The governments of our countries should facilitate unconditional compliance with agreements reached by our leaders at the highest level.

We are drafting another weighty package of intergovernmental agreements, and we are expecting to submit it for signing soon.

I would like to say once again that we sincerely value our friendship, partnership and allied relations with Kazakhstan. Our countries are linked by special fraternal relations. We have a very detailed bilateral agenda. We have substantial opportunities for working in absolutely all areas. Dialogue between our governments has picked up momentum. Our deputy prime ministers and heads of agencies are working actively. We are making substantial preparations for yet another meeting of the intergovernmental commission, where the Russian side is chaired by Alexei Overchuk, in Moscow early this coming March.

I would like to note with satisfaction that Russian-Kazakhstani trade and economic cooperation is continuing to develop rather successfully. In 2021, bilateral trade soared by 33 percent on 2020 and topped $25 billion, hitting an all-time high, unprecedented in our entire history.

We review such high-priority areas of our joint work as green energy, the civilian nuclear power industry and the creation of a digital platform using Sber  technology. We have a huge potential for cooperation in industry, energy and the transport infrastructure. There has also been progress in investment cooperation; Russian businesses are involved in over 30 major projects in Kazakhstan. And the number of these projects continues to increase. The Intergovernmental Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Programme for 2021-2025 creates a foundation for launching new initiatives.

We are also expanding our cooperation regarding the Covid-19 response effort. The Karaganda Pharmaceutical Plant continues to expand production of the Sputnik V vaccine. And I am absolutely confident that all-out immunisation will help us defeat Covid-19 together.

Russia and Kazakhstan have been working fruitfully in the Eurasian Economic Union for a long time. To be honest, it has become a good and positive tradition to start each year with our meeting in Kazakhstan. I am convinced that the meeting between heads of government will become yet another symbol of support for the leadership of Kazakhstan by the five Eurasian states.

The following documents were signed following the meeting:

-        Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Establishing and Operating Subsidiaries of Higher Education Organisations of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Kazakhstan and Subsidiaries of Higher Education and Post-University Education Organisations of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the Russian Federation;

-        Action Plan to Implement the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Programme  between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan for 2021-2025.