MOSCOW, April 3 (RIA Novosti) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev arrived in Moscow Monday night for a two-day official visit to focus on economic ties, research, including space, and cultural links between the two countries.
Nazarbayev will meet with President Vladimir Putin, and deliver an address to the lower house of parliament, the State Duma.
Nazarbayev is also expected to meet professors and students of Moscow Institute of Steel and Alloys, and sign an agreement on cooperation between Russia's state-controlled Vnesheconombank and the Eurasian Industrial Association, Kazakhstan's leading aluminum producer.
The countries will also sign protocols on the use of Russian military and research testing grounds and centers on Kazakh territory.
Nazarbayev's visit will also see the signing of an agreement on the launch of the first Kazakh telecoms satellite KAZSAT, and a schedule of contacts between diplomats.
Trade between Russia and oil-rich Kazakhstan, which has the fastest developing economy of the 15 ex-Soviet republics, currently totals $10 billion, but the country's two leaders are aiming to double the figure in the short term.
Nazarbayev will also attend the unveiling ceremony of a monument to Kazakh poet, composer and philosopher Abai Kunanbaev in Moscow, as this year has been declared the Year of Abay in Russia. A monument to Pushkin will also be opened in Kazakhstan to mark the Year of Pushkin.
