In an interview, Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov said financiers from the Republic of Tatarstan had signed the memorandum.

The ambassador recalled businesspeople from the Republic of Tatarstan signed the deal in Kabul a month back.“It is a trilateral project with Iran and Pakistan.”

TASS news agency quoted the envoy as saying Russian pipe producers were prepared to join the construction of the Afghan part of the gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and India.

Zhirnov said Russian engineers had inspected boiler houses, heating networks, water supply systems and power substations in Kabul.

The Russo-Afghan trade volume had surged by 40% in a year, the ambassador noted, stressing the need for mutually beneficial cooperation.

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