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Russia has reached a temporary agreement with Tajikistan on lifting a ban on the flights by Tajik airlines to Russia, a spokesman for the Russian aviation authorities said on Sunday to RIA-Novosti.

Russia's Federal Air Transportation Agency banned Tajikistan's flagship air carrier from flying to Russia on Saturday.

The Russian air transportation agency said the temporary ban was in response to 'illegal charges' that Russian air carriers flying to Tajikistan had been subjected to by the Tajik aviation agency. Russia says this was in violation of the air communication agreement between the two countries.

"The restrictions have been lifted, given that all compensation payments not stipulated in an agreement on air communication between Russia and Tajikistan are canceled before the parties hold negotiations expected in the coming two weeks," the agency said, adding that the temporary accord had been reached in the interests of passengers.

Tajik Air operates frequent flights to 3 Russian cities - Moscow, Novosibirsk and Yekaterinburg. The flights are extremely popular as hundreds of thousands of Tajiks work in Russia as seasonal workers.

The Russian aviation agency was upset over a fee imposed by Tajikistan in September on Russian airlines that fly routes not offered by Tajik Air, Russian agencies report. Tajik authorities recently delayed a Dushanbe-Chelyabinsk flight for about 8 hours over its refusal to pay the fee that is $10 per passenger.