DUSHANBE, September 18, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- State and prospects of further expansion of bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Russia were the focus of a meeting of President Emomali Rahmon with head of Russian President’s Office Sergey Naryshkin that was held in Dushanbe on September 17.

Sergey Naryshkin, heading Russian delegation to participate in the 3rd forum of the CIS intelligentsia, arrived in Dushanbe yesterday evening.   

According to presidential press service, Rahmon and Naryshkin, in particular, discussed the progress of implementation of agreements reached between the two countries during Russian president’s visit to Tajikistan in August this year, bilateral cooperation in the fields of energy and mining.   

The two expressed satisfaction with the pace of construction of Russian-built hydroelectric power plant Sangtuda-1 in Tajikistan.  The station is expected to be finished by the end of this year.  They also expressed satisfaction with agreements on construction of three other medium-sized hydropower plants in Tajikistan and Russia’s readiness to participate in completing the construction of the Roghun hydroelectric power station, the press service said.    

In the course of the talks, the sides also discussed ways to promote further expansion of educational, scientific and cultural cooperation between Tajikistan and Russia, including opening of branches of a number of Russian universities in Tajikistan.