The Presidents of Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan today celebrated (by video) the launch of the Russian shipment of gas to Uzbekistan, through Kazakhstan, via the Central Asia-Centre Gas Pipeline. Built in the 1960s, and recently rehabilitated in record time, this pipeline system once conveyed gas the opposite direction. The leaders effusively thanked each other, Gazprom management and other specialists and workers, who have upgraded the system.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev spent the day before the launch in Moscow, meeting with President Vladimir Putin and others, conferring on trade and economic plans, holding a joint press conference. There are extensive interactions between the two nations, including that 3,000 Russian firms operate in Uzbekistan, and 700 Uzbek firms in Russia. Thousands of Uzbek students study at Russian universities.
