21/7 Tass 373
NOVO-OGARYOVO, July 21 (Itar-Tass) — Kyrgyz Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev who held talks with Vladimir Putin on Wednesday thanked the Russian prime minister for lifting an export duty for petroleum products earlier this year.
“It was a real New Year gift,” he said, adding that thanks to the move 2011 started well for Kyrgyzstan and its economy, which has been growing.
Putin said in turn that the lifting of export duties for petroleum products hadn’t been a gift but an element of support for Kyrgyzstan.
The Russian prime minister said that meetings like the one that was held on Wednesday provide for an opportunity to see how Russian-Kyrgyz relations develop.
“The last time we met we outlined major areas for developing our cooperation: energy, agriculture, scientific-technological and military cooperation. It’s very good that today we have an opportunity to see how we progress in all these areas,” Putin went on to say.
For his part, Almazbek Atambayev told Putin that Kyrgyzstan feels Russia’s support all the time. He said that the Kyrgyz economy was recovering largely thanks to Russian support. Kyrgyz GDP grew by 5.5 percent in the first six months of 2011.
Atambayev also noted that Kyrgyzstan had received 1,500 tons of barley from Russia.