Azerbaijan, Russia eye to create joint ventures in various sectors

By Azernews

By Sara Israfilbayova

Companies from Azerbaijan and Russia plan to establish joint ventures in the fields of industry, pharmaceuticals and construction.

Executive Director of the Russia-Azerbaijan Business Council Yuri Danilov told Trend that there are already projects that are in a high stage of readiness, approved by both sides.

In his opinion, metalworking, oil machine building, chemical industry, car building, production of building materials and processing of agricultural products can be considered spheres that are useful for cooperation and setting up joint ventures.

“Today we see a great interest of Russian business in the work in the markets of Azerbaijan,” he said, adding that, in particular, the board today includes 75 members.

Danilov went on to say that Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation is now entering a new level and there is a great interest of the business communities of the two countries to develop close trade relations.

“I believe that today it is important to move towards simplification of trade and economic cooperation, creation of joint Russian-Azerbaijani productions in the territory of Azerbaijan, and it is also important to share the technologies and transit potential of the republic,” he said.

The decision on the establishment of the Russian-Azerbaijani Business Council was made in 2015 within the framework of the 15th session of the intergovernmental commission, and the constituent session of the council was held in May 2016.

The main objective of the Russia-Azerbaijan Business Council is to expand and develop business contacts, mutually beneficial cooperation between Russian and Azerbaijani entrepreneurs, promote Russian business in the Azerbaijani market, organize a constructive dialogue between business circles of both countries, reveal opportunities for expansion and diversification of Russia-Azerbaijan interaction in the business sector, including joint investment projects being implemented in Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan is one of the main economic partners of Russia among the CIS countries. Interregional cooperation plays an important role in the development of Russian-Azerbaijani trade and economic relations and the increase in trade turnover.

Russia has been included in the list of Azerbaijan’s five largest trade partners in January-June 2018 with the volume of trade turnover of $ 1.14 billion (8.54 percent of the total volume of trade turnover).

Azerbaijan invested more than $1 billion in the Russian economy, and Russia invested about $4 billion in the economy of Azerbaijan.

The products worth $349.23 million were exported from Azerbaijan to Russia from January to June 2018, which is 5.76 percent more than in the first half of the year. The volume of imports from Russia, in turn, amounted to $788.21 million, which is 0.29 percent more than in the first six months of 2017.

The trade turnover between the states amounted to $1.3 billion in January-July 2018, according to State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. Russia accounts for 7.89 percent of the total foreign trade turnover of Azerbaijan.