“The outgoing year has once again demonstrated that our countries share similar or close stances on major international issues.” These words served as an introduction for Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Uzbekistan, Vladimir Tyurdenev, to sum up the activities of the embassy in the year 2016.
In 2016, Russia has not only preserved, but also continued to strengthen its positions in Uzbekistan, according to the head of the diplomatic mission, and boosting economic cooperation remains a priority. On this basis, the ambassador focused on the need to make full use of the existing potential of our two nations. “We state with regret that the unfavorable external economic environment has negatively affected the bilateral trade in terms of value. At the same time, and this is very important, while the cost measurable suggests reduction in turnover (by Russian statistical data, it was 7.8% for the 9 months, amounting to $1.98 billion), its physical volumes have grown. Thus, in physical terms (in tons) the total trade turnover in January-September 2016 grew by 0.9% (up to 3,294.7 thousand tons). In the meantime, physical volumes of Russian exports of Uzbekistan declined slightly – by 2.3%, while our imports from Uzbekistan increased by 59% in physical terms and 20% in terms of value.
The fact that we managed to keep the physical volume of bilateral trade shows the great deal of work undertaken by representatives of business circles and officials of ministries and departments of the two countries involved in economic cooperation,” Tyurdenev said.
According to the State Statistics Committee of Uzbekistan, for the first 9 months the exports of Uzbek fruit and vegetable products to Russia grew in physical terms threefold – to reach 90 tons. Today, the two countries’ experts are working on the possibility of creating a “green corridor” for a significant increase in the deliveries of Uzbek agricultural goods to the Russian Federation.
Listing the visits of the Russian side to facilitate the development of trade, the ambassador expounded on the travel to Uzbekistan by the Deputy Ministers of Industry and Trade V.Evtukhov and A.Morozov, Vice Ministers of Agriculture of the Russian Federation S.Levin and E.Gromyko.
According to the diplomat, special significance is still attached to interregional ties in 2016. Enterprises from 70 regions of the Russian Federation have now been cooperating with economic entities of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Most active contacts are being established by representatives of Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tatarstan, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Sverdlovsk, Tyumen, Ivanovo regions. An important contribution to the development of interregional cooperation is made by the business mission of Russian companies coming to Uzbekistan. This increases bоth the number and geography of participants: in 2015, a total of 19 business missions took place with the participation of 79 companies from 19 regions, while for 10 months of 2016, we witnessed 16 business missions that attracted 113 companies from 23 regions.
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The supplies of Uzbek cotton and textile goods to Russia account for more than 60% of imports from Uzbekistan
