President Vladimir Putin met in the Kremlin with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on 11 January. Ergodan arrived in Moscow on 10 January for a three-day working visit, primarily to discuss trade and economic relations. At a joint news conference, Putin said that Russia has \"consistently ranked as Turkey\'s second-largest trading partner.\" He said that bilateral trade was worth $10 billion in 2004, about $2 billion more than projected. \"We can reach $15 billion in the near future,\" Putin predicted. Turkish construction companies have completed about $12.3 billion in contracts in Russia over the last 15 years and that total Turkish investment in Russia is about $1.5 billion. Putin visited Ankara in December, a visit that Erdogan described as a pivotal moment in bilateral relations. (ITAR-TASS)