Presidents Vladimir Putin and Nursultan Nazarbayev summarised their negotiations in Omsk with a joint statement, in which they pronounced, in particular, for effective development of natural resources of the Caspian Sea.
The statement stresses the necessity for close cooperation in the transportation of Russian and Kazakh oil and natural gas to the world markets, in the work of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and the establishment of a gas alliance.
The Presidents also stressed the closeness of their stances on guaranteeing the freedom of circulation of goods, services, capital and workforce, and bringing into harmony the economic legislation and currency, tariff, fiscal, competition and technical policies.
The parties pointed out the progress of negotiations on Russian-Kazakh border demarcation, and ordered the work to be finished as soon as possible.
The Presidents instructed their governments to take additional measures to guarantee beneficial conditions for corporate partnership, development of trade, unhampered travel, and research, cultural and educational exchanges in the border zone.
The Presidents discussed border cooperation and certain issues of regional and global politics—in particular, the situation in Iraq. Mr Putin stressed that it was of tremendous importance to blueprint the restoration of peaceful life and order in Iraq, with the central role belonging to the United Nations and its specialised agencies during the transition period.
Special attention was paid to cooperation in the Commonwealth of Independent States, mainly to speed up the formation of the common economic space.
A special place on the agenda belonged to the regulation of the legal status of the Caspian Sea and the preservation of its bioresources. Mr Putin and Mr Nazarbayev agreed to instruct their governments to draft an agreement on the Caspian environmental problems.