DUSHANBE, October 4, Asia-Plus  -- President Emomali Rahmon received Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Naryshkin on Wednesday to discuss a broad range of political and economic issues.   

In the course of the talks the two focused specifically on the upcoming summits of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC), and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) to be held in Dushanbe on October 5-6.

Rahmon and Naryshkin also discussed the agenda of the EAEC summit, where a package of documents, primarily those regarding the legal basis for the Customs Union, will be considered.

After a meeting with President Rahmon, Naryshkin told journalists that this union consists for the time being of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus.  “But the documents have been prepared to allow other EAEC members, including Tajikistan, to join it in the future,” the vice-premier said. .

On the upcoming CIS summit, Naryshkin said that they had discussed issues related to the summit.  “Russia and Tajikistan are unanimous in their understanding of the need and importance of preserving the CIS,” Naryshkin said.  “The position of our countries is that it is necessary to preserve all the best and effective that has been created over thee years and go further,” he said.

            On the economic relations between Russia and Tajikistan, Naryshkin noted that President Rahmon kept up with a progress of construction of the Sangtuda-1 hydropower plant.  “Representative from Russia’s Inter-RAO said that work on construction of the plant is carried out in accordance with schedule, and the first unit of the station will be put into operation in December this year,” Naryshkin said.  

            According to him, they also discussed the possibility of completion of the construction of the Roghun hydropower plant by Russian and Tajik companies.  “The volume of financing is big, and therefore, it is necessary to set up international consortium,” the deputy prime minister said. 

He further stressed, “Much work has been done by Russia, and Russian companies are interested in participation in implementation of this ambitious project.” 

As far as Tajikistan is concerned, it will get new energy capacities that will allow developing industry and exporting electrical power to neighboring countries, Naryshkin said.