By Azernews

By Ofeliya Afandiyeva

Azerbaijan is Russia’s main trading partner in the South Caucasus and the trade turnover between the two countries will reach $3 billion, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said at a press conference in Baku following a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on December 3.

“The trade turnover between our countries continues to grow and is expected to reach $3 billion. Azerbaijan is Russia’s main trade partner in South Caucasus. Mutual investments are also actively boosting. The investment made by Azerbaijan in Russia exceeded $1.2 billion while Russia invested $4.9 billion in Azerbaijan, of which $4 billion were invested in the oil sector and about $1 billion in non-oil,” Mammadyarov said.

“There are successful economic relations between two countries. Legal framework for these relationships exists,” he added.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister also said that the sides have inked Protocol on Political Consultations for 2020 as part of Lavrov’s visit.

The negotiations were very fruitful. The relations between Azerbaijan and Russia are a successful and even an exemplary pattern for strategic cooperation, Mammadyarov underlined.

In turn, Lavrov said that the Azerbaijani-Russian ties “are strategic and based on mutual trust and faith”.

He spoke about efforst in the direction of deepening the relations of parliaments and ministries of both countries.

Russian FM stated that there are close relations between the two countries in the field of culture.

The head of the Russian MFA expressed his gratitude for the care and attention to the Russian language in Azerbaijan. He drew attention to close relations between the higher education institutions, the branches of Russian universities operating in Azerbaijan.

Additionally, Lavrov made the remarks about First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva’s recent official visit to Russia, saying that “within the framework of the visit of Mehriban Aliyeva, Interregional and Youth Forum were held. Over 70 regions participated at the Interregional Forum.”

Furthermore, Lavrov touched upon the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Lavrov arrived in Baku on a two-day visit on December 2. He was received by President Ilham Aliyev.

The last meeting between Lavrov and Mammadyarov was held on the sidelines of the meeting of the CIS Foreign Ministers’ Council on 5 April in Moscow.

It should be noted that according to the results of 2018, the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia amounted to $2,550,906.07, which is 19.1 percent more compared to 2017. The share of trade operations with Russia in 2018 accounted for 8.25 percent of the total foreign trade turnover of Azerbaijan, which is a clear indicator of increasing economic ties between the two countries. Notably, Russia occupied the 1st place ($533,9 million) for the value of non-oil products exported from Azerbaijan in the first ten months of 2019.