Putin, Nazarbayev to discuss preparations for events planned in Minsk on October 10
MOSCOW. Sept 26 (Interfax) - Russia and Kazakhstan will determine the conditions of copper and sulphide ore extraction in the Vesenne-Aralchinsky deposit and will sign an agreement on the use of radio frequencies on the territory of Baikonur.
On September 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin will pay a working visit to Kazakhstan, during which he will attend the 11th Russian-Kazakh regional cooperation forum.
The upcoming forum will address innovations in hydrocarbons. The September 30 meeting between Putin and Nazarbayev will be their seventh meeting this year. "The two presidents are expected to pay special attention to the prospects of a further increase of trade and economic cooperation and preparations of the participation by Russia and Kazakhstan in multi-party events in Minsk on October within the framework of the Customs Union, the Eurasian Economic Community, and the CIS," Russian presidential envoy Yury Ushakov told a briefing in Moscow.
The regulations of the upcoming forum envision a bilateral meeting between the presidents, a plenary session, and the signing of joint documents.
"Two intergovernmental agreements are expected to be signed in the presence of the leaders. The first one deals with economic activities on the territories close to the border in the extraction of copper and sulphide ore in the Vesenne-Aralchinsky deposit and the second one deals with the use of radio frequencies on the territory of Baikonur," Ushakov said.
Ten interregional documents on cooperation are expected to be signed at the forum, he said.
In the first half of 2014, Russian-Kazakh trade turnover went down 6.3%, which is largely due to changes on the energy market and the way they are reflected in the Russian statistics system.
At the same time, the Kremlin pointed out an increase in mutual capital investment. Seventy-six of the 85 regions of Russia have economic ties with all of Kazakhstan's 14 regions. The most active Russian regions have brought their trade turnover with Kazakhstan to $1 billion.
"Cooperation in the high-tech sectors, specifically, in nuclear energy, is expanding. An agreement on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan should be signed before the end of this year," Ushakov said.
More than six Russian universities operate in Kazakhstan. Among them is the division of the Moscow State University in Astana and the division of the Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Information in Ust-Kamenogorsk.
"The number of scholarship spaces for Kazakh citizens is expected to double in the 2014-2015 academic year, reaching 453 spaces, of which 182 will go to Russians. In 2013-14, there were 215 such spaces," the Kremlin said.