Azerbaijan as a transit country is open for cooperation

The Caspian countries have the sovereign right to implement their transport and energy projects, Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov told media in Astana, commenting on the Trans-Caspian pipeline laying.

Azerbaijan as a transit country is open for cooperation. It is ready to provide opportunities to transit hydrocarbons, he said.

Khalafov also believes the Caspian littoral states are likely to reach an agreement on the text of the Convention on the Caspian status in the near future.

"There is great progress in many issues of the text of Convention on the status of the Caspian Sea," Khalafov said in Astana on Wednesday. "We were able to reach agreement on many issues. The negotiation process is progressive in nature, many issues are coordinated, and an agreement is likely to be reached on the text of the Convention in the near future."

Khalafov is attending the 30th meeting of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Convention on legal status of the Caspian Sea, which is underway in the capital of Kazakhstan."The parties have the will and desire to resolve all issues regarding the Caspian Sea's status, there are similar positions, and we are optimistic on the coordination the text as a whole," Khalafov said.

Unresolved issues on the text of the Convention are not an obstacle to the implementation of energy transportation projects, as there is both local and international understanding, he said.


/Trend/