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ISLAMABAD:
In a major development, Pakistan and Russia on Friday agreed on “discussion draft” of the shareholders’ agreement for the Special Purpose Company (SPC) for construction of the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline (PSGP) project and resolved to sign the agreement by February 15, 2022, an official statement said.
The above mentioned and several other agreements were signed as protocol in the seventh meeting of the Russian-Pakistani Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation being held in Yekaterinburg, Russia on November 24-26, 2021.
The Pakistani delegation was headed by Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Omer Ayub Khan. Other members of the delegation included Secretary Economic Affairs Division Mian Asad Hayauddin, Pakistan Ambassador to Russia Shafqat Ali Khan, Pakistan Embassy Trade Wing and representatives of Ministries of Energy, FBR, Commerce and other relevant ministries.
Read more: Pakistan mulls funding options to kick off PSGP
The Russian side was headed by Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Nikolai Shulginov and included representatives of energy, trade, economy, agriculture, railways and others.
Pakistan and Russia further agreed to develop and sign the facilitation agreement for the PSGP by February 15, 2022, and to sign statutory documents of the SPC for the construction of the pipeline by January 31, 2022.
The 1,100-kilometre-long project, formerly known as the North-South Pipeline, plans to carry 12.4 billion cubic metres of natural gas annually. The project name was changed to ‘Pakistan Stream’ along with its partnership structure against the risk of US sanctions on Russian companies.
The statement said that Russia has also agreed to allow the import of grains and rice from Pakistan on basis of technical information and guarantee. Both sides noted that although Russian-Pakistani trade turnover increased by 45.8% compared to 2019 to 789.8 million US dollars, however, the current volume of bilateral trade did not correspond to the existing potential.
According to the official communiqué, both sides agreed to continue joint efforts to strengthen Pakistani-Russian cooperation in the field of trade and investment.
In order to establish legal grounds for the development of customs cooperation between Pakistan and Russia, the statement said, the two sides agreed to continue joint work aimed at signing an agreement regarding cooperation and mutual assistance in customs matters, the protocol between two sides on administrative cooperation, information exchange and mutual assistance under the unified system of tariff preferences of the Eurasian Economic Union.
Also read: First round of Pak-Russia LNG pipeline talks ends
The Russian side confirmed its interest in supplying and after-sales service of Russian civil aircrafts to the Pakistani state and commercial organisations subject to compliance with ICAO standards and PCAA rules and regulations.
The statement said that both sides agreed to develop cooperation in the field of pharmaceuticals.
They agreed to promote the expansion of direct inter-university cooperation, including the development of various forms of academic mobility, the implementation of various educational programmes, research projects, organisation of specialised international exhibitions, conferences and seminars.
Both sides agreed to finalise the draft agreement between the two countries on international road transport.
The Federal Air Transport Agency (FATA), together with the Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan (PCAA), will continue finalising the draft working arrangement on airworthiness with aim of signing it as soon as possible.
Pakistan and Russia agreed to continue working on the finalisation of the draft interdepartmental agreement on cooperation in the field of communications and information technologies.
According to the statement, both sides agreed to sign an agreement on cooperation in the field of international information security. The Pakistan side also expressed interest in connecting to the financial messaging system of the Bank of Russia (SPFS).