vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #153 / Special reports / Reading article...

Bangladesh announced the opening of a consular office in Vladivostok Oct 23. The post is not a full consulate, but is designed to facilitate ties in the Far East, said Consul of Honor Alexander Zubko, who is a Russian citizen.

As Bangladesh clamors for a role in the growing Asian-Pacific economy, it will use the Vladivostok outpost to assist in friendship and economic ties, and to facilitate cargo transit through Primorye ports to destinations across the continent, including Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Siberia.

Zubko said that his first goal will be to connect Russians with exporters from Bangladesh’s textile industry. He will also explore possibilities for trade in Russian cement and non-ferrous metals.

“Bangladesh is a growing country, and has a strong need for such materials,” Zubko said.

Bangladesh is also negotiating a deal that would bring Russian fishermen into the Indian Ocean to haul catches there, he said. Zubko spent 10 years in the Pacific Fleet. Before he took the consular position, he was president of local Interior Service Co.

Russia has worked extensively with Bangladesh since 1974, when the Soviet fleet conducted mine-sweeping and raised sunken ships in the area.

Bangladesh

Area: 144,000 square kilometers.
Population: 123,062,800.
Climate: tropical.
Natural resources: natural gas, arable land, timber.
General: Bangladesh is one of the world’s poorest, least developed and most densely populated nations.