AKIPRESS.COM - Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Askar Mamin paid a working visit to Russia and met with his Russian colleague Dmitry Medvedev, the PM's press service said.

Mamin met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Tatarstan. They noted the high level of strategic partnership and alliance that was founded and developed by the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The sides discussed implementation of the agreements reached in the framework of the official visit of the President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Russia in April 2019.

Intergovernmental negotiations were devoted to the issues of further building up trade, economic, investment cooperation, industrial cooperation, and cooperation in the fields of energy, agriculture, and transport. The meeting also addressed topical issues of cross-border and integration cooperation.

Russia is the main trading partner of Kazakhstan. Last year, bilateral trade increased by 13%, reaching $18.5 billion. In the first half of 2019, trade amounted to $8.8 billion.

Industrial cooperation is one of the key areas of Kazakh-Russian relations.

During the working visit, the Kazakh PM visited the flagship industrial enterprises of Tatarstan, in particular KAMAZ PJSC.

Within the framework of the Program of Joint Actions of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation on industrial cooperation, the Kazakh company Agromashholding KZ and KAMAZ jointly implement a number of projects, including construction of factories for the production of bridge gear reducers, special equipment.

Mamin also visited the Taneko refinery, part of the Tatneft group of companies. In the capital of Tatarstan, the head of the Government visited the Kazan Helicopter Plant and examined the Khimgrad technopolis.

In Kazan, Mamin held a meeting with Tatyana Bakalchuk, CEO of the leading Russian international online store Wildberries, during which the company’s plans to expand its business and build trade and logistics centers in Kazakhstan were discussed.

As a result of negotiations, the Memorandum of Understanding between the Astana International Financial Center and the company was signed, and a certificate of registration of Wildberries as a member of the AIFC was also awarded.

As part of a working visit, the Kazakh Prime Minister, along with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, attended the opening ceremony of the WORLDSKILLS KAZAN 2019 championship. In anticipation of the championship, Askar Mamin met with the national team of Kazakhstan for professional excellence according to WorldSkills standards and wished them success in the competition.