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KREMLIN PRESS STATEMENT FOLLOWING RUSSIAN-AZERI TALKS IN BAKU
The President of the Russian Federation
Aug 14 2013
Press statements following Russian-Azerbaijani talks August 13, 2013,
18:15, Baku
PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN : Mr Aliyev, colleagues, friends,
It's been a long time since my last visit to Azerbaijan, which was
in 2006. A lot of time has passed since then. Azerbaijan is changing
rapidly and vigorously, it is a dynamic country that is developing
very quickly. Its economic growth rate is one of the highest in the
world. That's impressive, and we wish our friends further successes.
Azerbaijan is one of Russia's long-standing, traditional and reliable
partners. We work closely in the Caucasus, the Caspian Region, within
the CIS, and in leading international institutions. Our cooperation
is founded on strong traditions of friendship and mutual respect
between our countries and peoples.
We discussed key areas of Russia and Azerbaijan's strategic partnership
in detail and outlined plans for its further development, naturally
first and foremost in trade and economic spheres.
In this regard, I can point out that despite the well-known global
economic slump our trade relations have and continue to develop
successfully. According to various estimates, they grew last year
between 37 and 47 per cent. This is currently an obvious record in
the relations between the two countries.
Russia has traditionally been one of Azerbaijan's leading trading
partners, holding second place. Italy holds first place, but we
all know that this is mainly due to deliveries of hydrocarbons
to Italian and European markets. As experts say, trade between
Azerbaijan and Russia is much more balanced and distinctive. It
includes machinery, equipment and food, namely everything that is
vital to both Azerbaijan's economy and that of the Russian Federation.
Intensive interregional and cross-border ties contribute considerably
to attaining such high indicators. Suffice to say that more than 70
Russian regions have close business ties with Azerbaijan.
Let me point out that more than 500 Russian companies operate in
Azerbaijan, and their activities cover a wide range of the most
important sectors for socioeconomic development, including energy,
car industry, finance, insurance, and healthcare sectors. And it is
well-known that quite a large number of Azerbaijani citizens work in
Russia (while this occurs at the household level, it is nonetheless
economically significant). They number in one million or even more
than that, and taking into account Azerbaijanis who hold Russian
citizenship, the number exceeds two million people.
Russia and Azerbaijan are major international players in the energy
sector, where they are engaged in mutually beneficial cooperation. I
do not want to repeat what we've already said, but the volume of work
we do is very large and continues to expand. You just witnessed the
signing of the relevant agreements between Russia's state oil company
Rosneft and its Azerbaijani partner.
New directions and forms of cooperation in the energy sector are
being explored. As you know, I have already talked about this, we
signed agreements that are calculated to last 15 or 20 years. That is,
they lay a good foundation for our cooperation for many years to come.
Our humanitarian ties play a special role in strengthening our
friendly, neighbourly relations. During this visit we approved an
interstate cooperation programme until 2015 in this area. We discussed
preparations for the 3rd Baku International Humanitarian Forum,
which will take place from October 31 to November 1 in Baku. We can
say with confidence that since it was first held in 2011, this forum
has become a major social event.
During our talks we paid a great deal of attention to resolving
problems in the Caspian region. We are interested in seeing this region
become one in which peace and cooperation reign. There are still many
unresolved issues here, relating to security, border delimitation,
conserving biological diversity in the Caspian Sea and so on. We have
a vested interest in resolving all these problems, naturally taking
into account the interests of all littoral states.
It is symbolic that our talks coincide with a friendly visit of a
detachment of the Russian Caspian Flotilla to Baku. The Dagestan
missile ship and the Volgodonsk small artillery ship are among the
vessels. At the end of 2013 Azerbaijani sailors plan to make a return
visit to Astrakhan.
Naturally, during our talks we touched on current international issues,
including the Nagorno Karabakh [Nagornyy Karabakh] conflict. I would
like to emphasise that Russia is actively facilitating the conflict's
accelerated settlement, which is only possible through political means.
In conclusion, I would like to note that our talks once again
demonstrated our shared commitment to strengthening multifaceted
cooperation between our countries.
I would like to once again thank all of our Azerbaijani friends and
colleagues for their kindness, hospitality, the business-like manner
in which our work today was conducted, and for the results achieved.
Thank you very much for your attention.
The President of the Russian Federation
Aug 14 2013
Press statements following Russian-Azerbaijani talks August 13, 2013,
18:15, Baku
PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN : Mr Aliyev, colleagues, friends,
It's been a long time since my last visit to Azerbaijan, which was
in 2006. A lot of time has passed since then. Azerbaijan is changing
rapidly and vigorously, it is a dynamic country that is developing
very quickly. Its economic growth rate is one of the highest in the
world. That's impressive, and we wish our friends further successes.
Azerbaijan is one of Russia's long-standing, traditional and reliable
partners. We work closely in the Caucasus, the Caspian Region, within
the CIS, and in leading international institutions. Our cooperation
is founded on strong traditions of friendship and mutual respect
between our countries and peoples.
We discussed key areas of Russia and Azerbaijan's strategic partnership
in detail and outlined plans for its further development, naturally
first and foremost in trade and economic spheres.
In this regard, I can point out that despite the well-known global
economic slump our trade relations have and continue to develop
successfully. According to various estimates, they grew last year
between 37 and 47 per cent. This is currently an obvious record in
the relations between the two countries.
Russia has traditionally been one of Azerbaijan's leading trading
partners, holding second place. Italy holds first place, but we
all know that this is mainly due to deliveries of hydrocarbons
to Italian and European markets. As experts say, trade between
Azerbaijan and Russia is much more balanced and distinctive. It
includes machinery, equipment and food, namely everything that is
vital to both Azerbaijan's economy and that of the Russian Federation.
Intensive interregional and cross-border ties contribute considerably
to attaining such high indicators. Suffice to say that more than 70
Russian regions have close business ties with Azerbaijan.
Let me point out that more than 500 Russian companies operate in
Azerbaijan, and their activities cover a wide range of the most
important sectors for socioeconomic development, including energy,
car industry, finance, insurance, and healthcare sectors. And it is
well-known that quite a large number of Azerbaijani citizens work in
Russia (while this occurs at the household level, it is nonetheless
economically significant). They number in one million or even more
than that, and taking into account Azerbaijanis who hold Russian
citizenship, the number exceeds two million people.
Russia and Azerbaijan are major international players in the energy
sector, where they are engaged in mutually beneficial cooperation. I
do not want to repeat what we've already said, but the volume of work
we do is very large and continues to expand. You just witnessed the
signing of the relevant agreements between Russia's state oil company
Rosneft and its Azerbaijani partner.
New directions and forms of cooperation in the energy sector are
being explored. As you know, I have already talked about this, we
signed agreements that are calculated to last 15 or 20 years. That is,
they lay a good foundation for our cooperation for many years to come.
Our humanitarian ties play a special role in strengthening our
friendly, neighbourly relations. During this visit we approved an
interstate cooperation programme until 2015 in this area. We discussed
preparations for the 3rd Baku International Humanitarian Forum,
which will take place from October 31 to November 1 in Baku. We can
say with confidence that since it was first held in 2011, this forum
has become a major social event.
During our talks we paid a great deal of attention to resolving
problems in the Caspian region. We are interested in seeing this region
become one in which peace and cooperation reign. There are still many
unresolved issues here, relating to security, border delimitation,
conserving biological diversity in the Caspian Sea and so on. We have
a vested interest in resolving all these problems, naturally taking
into account the interests of all littoral states.
It is symbolic that our talks coincide with a friendly visit of a
detachment of the Russian Caspian Flotilla to Baku. The Dagestan
missile ship and the Volgodonsk small artillery ship are among the
vessels. At the end of 2013 Azerbaijani sailors plan to make a return
visit to Astrakhan.
Naturally, during our talks we touched on current international issues,
including the Nagorno Karabakh [Nagornyy Karabakh] conflict. I would
like to emphasise that Russia is actively facilitating the conflict's
accelerated settlement, which is only possible through political means.
In conclusion, I would like to note that our talks once again
demonstrated our shared commitment to strengthening multifaceted
cooperation between our countries.
I would like to once again thank all of our Azerbaijani friends and
colleagues for their kindness, hospitality, the business-like manner
in which our work today was conducted, and for the results achieved.
Thank you very much for your attention.