DUSHANBE, May 29, 2009, Asia-Plus — A meeting of the Business Council at the Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan was held in Dushanbe on May 27.
According to the Russian Embassy in Dushanbe, the meeting participants included senior representatives of the embassy and the Russian trade representative office in Tajikistan as well as representatives of closed joint-stock company (OJSC) Gazprom Zarubezhneftegaz, open joint stock company (OJSC) Sangtudinskaya GES-1, limited liability companies Tacom, Sozidaniye, Investitsii i Upravleniye (Investments and Management) and Gazpromneft-Tajikistan, as well as the Roghun branch of OJSC Sangtudinskaya GES-1.
The meeting reviewed the results of work of the Russian companies in Tajikistan during 2008 and considered development prospects for 2009.
During the meeting, it was noted that trade between the Russian Federation and Tajikistan has increased 3.5 times over the past three years and a two-way trade between the two countries last year amounted to 1.2 billion U.S. dollars. According to the preliminary estimates, trade between Russia and Tajikistan is expected to amount to some 930 million dollars this year.
According to data provided by the Russian Embassy, Russia invested 326 million dollars in Tajikistan last year and Russian investments over the last three years totaled 850 million U.S. dollars. Over the first three months of this year, Russia has invested 30 million dollars in Tajikistan’s economy, which is 65 percent of the overall volume of investments that have come into the country over the report period.
Russia has also continued providing humanitarian assistance to Tajikistan, the source at the Russian Embassy said. In late March this year alone, some 1 million U.S. dollars worth of humanitarian aid was shipped to Tajikistan by three transport planes. Last year, Russia provided humanitarian aid to Tajikistan in the amount of some 7 million U.S. dollars.
Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Yuri Popov assured representatives of the Russian business operating in Tajikistan that the embassy intended to actively protect and support their interests in the country.
