Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev discussed problems relevant to Russian-Kazakh economic cooperation. The Kazakh leader said that regretfully experts had agreed only 60% of common customs tariffs so far. In his opinion, it considerably hampered the positive development of bilateral trade turnover.
The leaders of Russia and Kazakhstan agreed that multi-faceted cooperation, above all in customs and transport, should be given a boost.
They also discussed the problem of demarcation of the Russian-Kazakh border on the Caspian shelf. The Presidents said that good progress had been made in resolving the issue, which, in their opinion, would lay the groundwork for signing in 2002 an agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan to draw a modified middle line along the northern Caspian seabed.