Ambassador: Azerbaijan, Russia need to remove customs barriers to trade

By Azernews

By Mirsaid Ibrahimzade

Russia and Azerbaijan continue to actively build up the potential of bilateral cooperation in various areas of trade, economy, in the field of military cooperation, in the cultural, humanitarian, and political spheres.

Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov shared his views on bilateral cooperation, barriers to the effective development of relations in various areas of interaction and other issues of international importance in an interview with Trend.

Firstly, he stated that the simplification of mutual trade between Azerbaijan and Russia would be facilitated by the eliminations of barriers to trade that are not needed, which might include heavy, customs, bureaucratic barriers, and even infrastructure ones.

“Currently, the parties are working in this direction. One of the examples of such work is bilateral efforts to complete the construction of an automobile bridge across the Samur River on the border between Azerbaijan and Russia as soon as possible. The new bridge would contribute to a freer passage of cargo flow, as well as the possibility of opening additional checkpoints in the same place, next to the existing bridge, thanks to which it would be possible to separate the various trade flows. Let's say, through one point, to send cars, through another, trucks, through the third buses, thereby expanding the capacity of border crossing points,” Bocharnikov said.

Touching up digitalization process, the ambassador tied this process with expansion bilateral economic relations between the states.

“In terms of joint actions that exist for the development of priority areas of economic cooperation, there are several roadmaps, one of which is dedicated specifically to digitalization. It is about the possibility of using mutual experience in the field of digitalization. For example, in the field of taxation, customs payments, electronic tracking of goods passing through some trade corridors between our countries, which would significantly reduce the time of passing. So, work is being done in this direction now; this issue is a subject of serious discussion and study on both sides,” Bocharnikov stated.

Speaking about advantages of humanitarian cooperation and economic interaction, the ambassador stressed opening of branches of three more Russian universities in Baku and opening joint enterprises.

“As part of the expansion of humanitarian cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan, the opening of branches of three more Russian universities in Baku is expected. We are talking about the opening of branches of MGIMO, the Higher School of Economics, and the Moscow State University of Humanities and Economics. By the end of this year, it is planned to open a branch of MGIMO in Baku, and at present this issue is being worked out in detail by the parties,” he added.

“Russia and Azerbaijan are aimed at opening joint enterprises, this direction is also in the center of attention of the state policy of our countries. As an example of this, I can cite the recent laying of foundation for the opening of an enterprise for the production of Gazel truck of a Russian “Gaz” plant together with an Azerbaijani partner. The launch took place in Hajigabul, and I took part in this ceremony together with the ministers of economy of our countries,” the Russian ambassador said.

In addition, Bocharnikov added that the signing of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea by the five littoral states opens up broad prospects for the rational use of the resources available in the Caspian basin.

“The convention opens up the widest opportunities because the five Caspian countries got a chance to establish direct economic relations within a single basin and to make a decision that would regulate the rules of conduct on the Caspian Sea in the field of nature conservation, fishing and tourism. If we talk about the benefits of this document, then the development of tourism is important for the citizens of Azerbaijan and Russia, and, by the way, such goals are set, and they are implemented,” he added.

Saying that particular attention is paid to the development of sea tourism in the Caspian Sea, he noted that the work is underway to develop the Concept of Caspian Sea Tourism and cruise communication.

“Today, parts of the Caspian Sea, where states can carry out their economic activities, are more or less defined, although, of course, some issues are still not fully resolved. And today a high-level working group, the first meeting of which was recently held in Baku, deals with these issues,” Bocharnikov concluded.