Russia willing to ramp up energy, agrifood exports to Pakistan - Putin

ASTANA. July 3 (Interfax) - Trade between Russia and Pakistan is growing, and Russia is willing to increase supplies of energy and agricultural produce to that country, President Vladimir Putin said.

"There are quite good prospects here. I'd pay special attention to two areas, namely cooperation in the energy and agribusiness sectors. We've begun supplying our energy resources to Pakistan, and we're willing to increase these supplies. At your request, Russia is also trying to contribute to Pakistan's food security, and we're increasing grain shipments to the Pakistani market," Putin said at a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Kazakhstan's Astana.

Sharif said trade between his country and Russia amounted to $1 billion a year and could well be increased. "We've received oil from your great country, we're very grateful for that and should keep following this path," he said.

"If you remember, I told you last time that we traded based on barter terms in the 1950s-1970s. We imported a lot of equipment and products from the USSR and exported textile and leather goods to your country on barter terms. And it seems to me it's time now to overcome financial and banking problems and resume and expand our trade relations based on barter terms. This would be very good for Pakistan, we could overcome a lot of other problems this way," Sharif said.