Shavkat Mirziyoyev meets with Vladimir Putin

President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his working visit to St. Petersburg, Russia. The meeting was reported by the press services of both leaders.

The talks focused on further expanding and strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership and allied relations between Uzbekistan and Russia.

The sides noted with satisfaction the dynamic development of trade and economic cooperation. Bilateral trade turnover has increased by 20 percent since the beginning of the year.

Major projects in industry, energy, metallurgy, transport, the chemical sector and other priority areas of the economy are continuing to be implemented.

The leaders emphasized the importance of maintaining the current pace of trade growth, accelerating cooperation projects and continuing active engagement at the regional level.

Special attention was also given to expanding cultural and humanitarian exchanges. It was noted that the premiere of George Frideric Handel’s opera Tamerlano recently took place at the Mariinsky Theatre, while an exhibition of Uzbek applied arts opened at the State Hermitage Museum.

The two leaders also devoted particular attention to trade-related issues.

“As you noted, trade is progressing well. The prime ministers have held a meeting of the intergovernmental commission, the Regional Forum has taken place, and the sixth Innoprom exhibition was successfully held. All the agreements we reached are developing positively. As you have just mentioned, trade turnover is approaching the target we agreed upon. We are moving toward $20 billion annually, and by the end of 2025 this figure has reached $13 billion. I believe we will increase it further by the end of 2026, as several major projects are underway. Therefore, I think this meeting will also provide additional momentum,” Mirziyoyev said.

The leaders also discussed the schedule of upcoming bilateral events.

Earlier, it was reported that Shavkat Mirziyoyev had traveled to Russia on a working visit to participate in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.