PM Mishustin notes record growth in Russia's trade with Kazakhstan

CHOLPON-ATA, Kyrgyzstan. Aug 25 (Interfax) - Russian-Kazakh trade cooperation is strengthening, trade is growing and there are all conditions for launching new strategic projects in many spheres, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin told his Kazakh counterpart Alikhan Smailov on the sidelines of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday.

"Together with our Kazakh partners, we take efficient measures aimed primarily at protecting our bilateral interaction against the impact of illegal economic sanctions from unfriendly states. It is important that, despite the active external conjuncture, our trade and economic cooperation is developing successfully," Mishustin said.

Last year trade exceeded $25 billion, a record, and in the first six months of this year rose by a further 9.5% year-on-year to $13 billion, he said.

"We are seeing good prospects for the implementation of our joint import-substitution programs. There are conditions for the launch of new strategic projects: production, energy, machinery, transport infrastructure, peaceful atom, digitization," Mishustin said.

At today's Eurasian Intergovernmental Council meeting in a narrow format the attendees discussed how to increase payments in national currencies, the implementation of agreed measures to steady national economies, and to develop the EAEU transport and logistics potential, the Russian prime minister said.

With a majority of Russian regions fostering their business ties with Kazakhstan, the bilateral inter-regional cooperation forum, due to be held in Orenburg this fall, will focus on such an important topic as lifting infrastructural restrictions in trade, he said.

For his part, Smailov expressed his readiness to increase bilateral cooperation.

"Russia is our main trading and economic partner," he said.