Russian President Vladimir Putin will arrive in Dushanbe on an official visit on February 28, a source in the Tajik government told Asia-Plus in an interview.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Russian resident, recently announced that the Russian leader will soon embark on a tour of Central Asia, taking in Tajikistan and neighboring Kyrgyzstan.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov laid the groundwork for the tour during a visit to Tajikistan on January 27. He was in Dushanbe to participate in the 14th session of the Tajik-Russian commission for trade and economic cooperation. Items on the agenda included cooperation in trade, investment, energy, education, science and migration. In reality, the session’s main task was to resolve an aviation dispute that has been dragging on since late last year.
A number of cooperation agreements are expected to be signed in Dushanbe during Russian president’s visit to Tajikistan.
Tajik Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Nematullo Hikmatullozoda, told reporters in Dushanbe on January 31 that volumes of trade between Tajikistan and the Russian Federation have reduced over the past two years.
“Last year, a two-way trade between Tajikistan and Russia valued at little more than one billion U.S. dollars, which was 6.3 percent less than in 2015,” Hikmatullozoda said.
“Despite this, Russia remains the major trading partner of Tajikistan and its share in Tajikistan’s external trade turnover last year accounted for 26.4 percent,” the minister stressed.
Local experts consider that the issue of Tajikistan’s entry into the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) will be one of the main subjects of negotiations between Vladimir Putin and Emomali Rahmon in Dushanbe.
There is lots of speculation that Dushanbe may finally agree to become a member of the Union. Tajik authorities still have a cool stance toward the EAEU noting that they are still studying the issue and weighing all the pluses and the minuses of the possible entry into Union.
Another important subject that is expected to be discussed in Dushanbe is the regional security and the Russian side will probably raise the issue of the lease of the Ayni military airfield.
Meanwhile EurasiaNet.org reports that when Putin arrives in Dushanbe later this month, it may be just to sign off on some relatively trivial trade and cultural agreements, or it may be the latest step in Moscow’s ambition to definitively cement another nation within in its sphere of economic and political influence.
