Azerbaijan, Russia's Volgograd region can expand co-op in several areas

By Trend

Azerbaijan took 18th place among 123 partner countries of Russia’s Volgograd region in 2021, Head of the International Foreign Economic and Interregional Relations Department of the Volgograd Regional Administration Marina Ogoleva told Trend.

According to Ogoleva, cooperation with 65 Volgograd exporters was launched last year.

"Cooperation between the Volgograd region and Azerbaijan is carried out in a number of areas, including in the areas of trade, industry, agriculture and energy. An agreement on trade, economic, scientific, technical, and cultural cooperation has been concluded between our administration and the government of Azerbaijan,” she said. “The current interaction is carried out within the framework of this agreement. As of 2021, nearly 65 exporters of our region interacted with Azerbaijani business representatives. Besides, five enterprises with 100-percent Azerbaijani capital are operating in our region.”

According to the official, in 2021, the trade turnover between the Russian region and Azerbaijan amounted to just over $39 million.

"Since the beginning of 2022, the trade turnover between our region and Azerbaijan has grown dynamically and amounted to $9 million," she added.

According to Director of the Volgograd Regional Export Support Center Viktoriya Afanasova, Azerbaijan and Volgograd region can expand cooperation in the oil and gas industry, construction and food sectors.

“As for the oil and gas industry, cooperation can be expanded in the areas of oil and gas engineering, the manufacturing of rubber products and the chemical industry,” Afanasova said. "In the construction sector, we see prospects in the supply of finishing, decor and repair items to Azerbaijan, and in the food sector - leguminous products, containers, and packaging products".

She noted that Volgograd businessmen mainly import agricultural products from Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijan is a strategic partner of the Volgograd region. Every year we actively participate in the exhibitions held in Azerbaijan. In 2022, our region participated in the Caspian Agro international exhibition. On June 1 through June 3, companies from our region took part in the Caspian Oil and Gas exhibition, and we are planning to participate in the Baku Build exhibition [to be held on October 19 through 21 this year],” the center’s director further said.

“Besides, we regularly carry out business missions to Azerbaijan in order to find partners. Every year we invite Azerbaijani businessmen to our region to participate in our events. This year we also plan to invite interested Azerbaijani companies to participate in the events to get acquainted with the prospects and capacities of Volgograd. The implementation of such events will contribute to the conclusion of mutually beneficial contracts both in the direction of exports and imports," Afanasova said.