Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with his Kazakh counterpart Karim Masimov. The meeting was followed by extended bilateral intergovernmental talks.

Transcript of the start of the talks:

Karim Masimov: Mr Putin, we are very happy to welcome you here. You have just discussed a number of crucial issues of bilateral relations at the talks with President Nazarbayev. Now we have exchanged opinion as well. It would be good if we could discuss a number of issues regarding our bilateral cooperation in the presence of our delegations.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much. And thank you once again for the invitation, Mr Masimov. President Nazarbayev and I have discussed many issues in detail. You and I have also talked at length about the subjects of primary importance.

I would like to repeat the main point. Our trade and economic cooperation has reached almost $20 billion. This is a very high figure. We continue working on joint projects. No matter how difficult the situation might be, it goes without saying that we are strategic partners. We run into problems, but continue developing our relations in space and the energy industry. Kazakh investment in Russia is on the upsurge, and Russian investment in Kazakhstan is also on the rise.

All this would have been impossible without a certain position of the President and the Government of Kazakhstan. We would like to thank you for it.

Viktor Khristenko heads the intergovernmental commission on our side, and with your permission I'd like to give him the floor so that he could briefly describe major directions of our cooperation.