A telephone conversation took place today between President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

At the beginning of the conversation, the Turkmen leader cordially congratulated his Russian counterpart on his birthday and wished him good health and great success in his state activities for the benefit of the friendly people of Russia.

Thanking for the congratulations and warm words, the head of Russia noted with satisfaction the constructive nature of the interstate dialogue, based on the invariable goodwill of the parties, long-standing bonds of friendship and trust.

During the conversation within the framework of the multilateral partnership, interaction in the format of the "Caspian Five" was identified as an important area. In this regard, the leader of the nation confirmed Turkmenistan's readiness to host the next Summit of the heads of the Caspian states this year.

An important area of Turkmen-Russian cooperation is trade and economic sphere. In this regard, the growth of bilateral trade in 2021 was noted with satisfaction. So, according to Turkmen statistics, the figure for 8 months of this year amounted to being 12.5 percent higher compared to the same period in 2020. The total volume of bilateral trade for eight months of 2021 is equal to 1 billion 86 million US dollars.

Along with this, a progressive process of diversification of the range of mutually supplied goods was noted, which indicates the diversity of partnership. Cooperation is successfully developing in the oil and gas sector, as well as in such spheres as gas chemistry, automotive industry, shipbuilding, aviation transport, etc.

An effective mechanism for further strengthening and systematizing trade and economic cooperation is the bilateral Intergovernmental Commission. As noted, a representative delegation headed by its co-chairman - Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation Alexey Overchuk is currently in Turkmenistan. Today, it is planned to hold an expanded meeting of the co-chairs of this Commission and the signing of the Program of Economic Cooperation between the Governments of the two countries for 2021-2023. It is also envisaged to organize a number of bilateral meetings.

Another priority area of the Turkmen-Russian partnership is interaction between the regions of both countries. It was noted that in recent years, Turkmenistan's ties with St. Petersburg, the Astrakhan region, the Republic of Tatarstan and other constituent entities of the Russian Federation have significantly intensified, which contributes to strengthening and expansion of interstate cooperation in general.

It was also emphasized that traditional cooperation in the humanitarian field is effectively developing, including science, education and culture, as well as medicine. Here, a clear example of fruitful interaction is the fact that today about 36 thousand Turkmen students study in higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation. Our countries intend to continue to help strengthen ties in these and other areas of partnership.

In the light of modern realities, especially given the ongoing global pandemic of the new coronavirus infection, great importance is attached to cooperation in the field of health. Taking this opportunity, the Turkmen leader expressed gratitude to the head of Russia for his assistance in sending vaccines, PCR test systems and Russian-made medicines to our country.

At the end of the telephone conversation, Presidents Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and Vladimir Putin, confirming the continued commitment of Turkmenistan and the Russian Federation to friendly, good-neighborly dialogue and strategic partnership relations, exchanged best wishes for each other and the peoples of both countries.