Chairman of the Majlisi Milli (Tajikistan’s upper chamber of parliament), Rustam Emomali, who is also the Mayor of Dushanbe, today met in Almaty, Kazakhstan with Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the State Duma (Russia’s lower chamber of parliament), on the sidelines of a meeting of the Council of Parliament Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO PA).

The press center of the Dushanbe Administration says the parties discussed issues related to the  implementation at the legislative level of decisions made by the presidents of the two countries. What specific decisions were discussed is not reported.  

Meanwhile, Russia’s state-run news agency TASS says Volodin and Emomali discussed further expansion of inter-parliamentary cooperation between the Russia Federation and Tajikistan. 

Volodin, reportedly noted that cooperation between Russia and Tajikistan are being expanded dynamically  based on the principles of respect and mutually beneficial cooperation.  The dynamics of development are set by the heads of state, according to TASS.   

Vyacheslav Volodin (born February 4, 1964)  is a Russian politician, who currently serves as the 10th Chairman of the State Duma (since 5 October 2016).

Volodin is a former aide to President Vladimir Putin. The former Secretary-General of the United Russia party, he was a deputy in the State Duma from 1999 until 2011 and from 2016 to present day. From 2010 until 2012, he was Deputy Prime Minister of Russia. He is also a former first deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia. He has the federal state civilian service rank of 1st class Active State Councilor of the Russian Federation. Volodin engineered Putin's conservative turn in his third term.  He is part of Putin's inner circle.