Transcript of the beginning of the meeting:

Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, Mr President,

You and I have regular contact at practically every level, and this leads to good results. Despite the difficult situation in the global economy, we've managed to preserve the core of our relations. In the context of bilateral relations, our main accomplishment is the progress that has been made on the Customs Union.

Nursultan Nazarbayev: We've been working on it for seven years already.

Vladimir Putin: Yes. I remember very well that you initiated this project. We began this together and have almost brought it to an end. It's understood that the Customs Union is only one stage in the development of the common economic space.

We've made a lot of progress on this. It's a critical project for us, and I'm confident that we'll see it through, finalising all the necessary documents and creating the conditions necessary for the development of our economies.

Nursultan Nazarbayev: Mr Putin, first of all, I'd like to thank you for coming here to participate in this meeting. It's a great honour for me. You've always been very respectful, and I return this respect. Without Russia, this meeting would not be as significant, and we understood that very well. I'd also like to thank President Medvedev for arranging it.

Our bilateral relations are developing successfully, as we planned in the economic cooperation programme for 2008-2010. We now need to develop another such programme. This year representatives from all the regions of Kazakhstan will convene for a meeting in Ust-Kamenogorsk. And we'll have yet another opportunity to meet at the upcoming SCO summit in Tashkent.

As you said, despite the crisis, bilateral trade grew by a third in the first four months of the year, which shows that our economies are coming out of the recession. We're restoring the trade turnover that our countries had before the downturn.

We're expanding our cooperation in every sector. I never doubted that the Customs Union would eventually come into being, even if it were a union of only our two countries, which I proposed at first. You call me an initiator, but I actually shy away from this word because some people get offended when they hear that I've initiated so many projects. But this is necessary for pursuing the interests of all countries involved. Thank you very much!