The talks were held during Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ali Asadov’s official visit to the Russian Federation.
From the transcript:
Russian-Azerbaijani talks
Russian-Azerbaijani talks
Russian-Azerbaijani talks
Russian-Azerbaijani talks
Russian-Azerbaijani talks
Mikhail Mishustin: Good afternoon, Mr Asadov. Good afternoon, dear guests. We are delighted to welcome you to the Government House of the Russian Federation.
This is your first official visit to Russia as head of government, Mr Asadov. I am confident that our upcoming talks will be constructive and substantive and will lend a fresh impetus to our cooperation. I would also ask you to convey my warmest greetings and best wishes to President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, and on behalf of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.
We highly value our long-term partnership with friendly Azerbaijan; we consider it important to raise it to a higher level, and fill it with new content. Overall, our trade and economic cooperation is expanding at a good pace. We prevented a significant decline in mutual trade in 2020 despite the difficulties caused by the coronavirus. As early as at the beginning of this year, from January to March, we boosted mutual trade by almost 3.5 percent, which is about $680 million. This is a good figure.
Almost 1,000 companies with Russian capital are operating in Azerbaijan; many large industrial projects are being implemented, such as an assembly plant for GAZ cars, a helicopter service centre, and a modern pharmaceutical facility. Combine harvesters are also being manufactured. A number of major contracts are being implemented, including for new railcars for the Baku metro.
The statements the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia adopted after the end of the hostilities in Nagorno-Karabakh have opened up opportunities for more comprehensive development in the region. I am confident that the unblocking of economic and transport links and development of new infrastructure meet the interests of all states in the South Caucasus.
Russian-Azerbaijani talks
We place special emphasis on inter-regional ties. More than 70 Russian regions directly cooperate with Azerbaijan. We are preparing for the Russia-Azerbaijan Interregional Forum; we will make sure all the recommendations of our sanitary and epidemiological services are taken into account during the event.
We are fighting the coronavirus infection together. Russia promptly delivered the test systems to Azerbaijan, and dispatched medical teams to help. The first batch of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine was delivered to Azerbaijan in May. We are also ready to establish production of the Russian vaccine in Azerbaijan, to help you with this. I am sure that this will enable Azerbaijan to vaccinate the people in the shortest possible time.
After today's talks, we will sign a number of agreements on deepening cooperation in a number of areas such as the information sphere, intellectual property, customs cooperation, food security, and veterinary medicine.
We have a wide and meaningful agenda. I am ready to discuss all of our important issues.
Mr Asadov, you have the floor now.
Ali Asadov: Mr Mishustin, colleagues,
Russian-Azerbaijani talks
Let me first express my gratitude to you for this high-level reception and warm hospitality that my delegation and I are enjoying here. I also want to thank you personally, Mr Mishustin, for your invitation to pay an official visit to the Russian Federation.
Yesterday, the leaders and presidents of our two countries, Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin, talked by telephone.
I am very pleased to extend to you, Mr Mishustin, and all members of your delegation, personal greetings and best wishes from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
I would like to begin by saying that 29 years ago, on 4 April, Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation established diplomatic relations. The bonds of friendship, cooperation and mutual understanding have tied our countries and peoples together for many centuries. Azerbaijan highly appreciates its relations with the Russian Federation.
Thanks to the personal involvement and the political will of our presidents, relations between our two countries have reached the strategic partnership level and continue to be dynamic. Mr Mishustin, for their part, the governments and relevant ministries and departments in our countries are also working hard at this.
As you said, Azerbaijan has agreements that give us extensive opportunities at the inter-regional level. According to our information, 80 constituent entities of the Russian Federation cooperate with Azerbaijan. I believe this helps promote our relations even further.
Of importance are the intergovernmental commission’s efforts to tackle economic issues. Recently the commission held its 19th meeting in Moscow.
Relations between Azerbaijan and Russia rest on a solid legal framework, with over 230 intergovernmental and inter-departmental agreements covering a broad range of issues relating to trade, the economy, investment, healthcare, education and the defence industry.
Important documents that, in my view, deserve special mention are the joint statement on priorities in economic cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan, which the two presidents signed in Sochi in 2018, and the governmental cooperation programme through 2024; the ensuing action plan contains six road maps covering many aspects of cooperation in the economy, healthcare and education that are being successfully carried out.
You touched on this issue and I also want to note the position of the Azerbaijani President and the Azerbaijani Government: we praise the role the Russian Federation played in the 44-day war. We also praise and are fully committed to fulfilling the obligations specified by the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia and the Armenian Prime Minister in the statement of 9 November – it was 10 November in our case.
You talked about new opportunities in the post-battle period, including those offered in paragraph 9 (of the statement), the successful implementation of which should be credited to the leadership of the deputy prime ministers of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, who stay in close contact.
Azerbaijan, for its part, is fully committed to fulfilling its obligations under the statement of 9 (10) November and the President’s statement of 11 January and will follow through on them.
Mr Mishustin, I want to take advantage of this opportunity to invite you to come to Azerbaijan on an official visit. I believe a visit, at your convenience, would contribute a lot to strengthening Russian-Azerbaijani relations.
Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Mr Asadov.
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Document signing ceremony
Document signing ceremony
Document signing ceremony
Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Russian Federation) and the State Agency on Intellectual Property of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Signed by: Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov and Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mikayil Jabbarov
Agreement between the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan on cooperation on communications and information technologies
Signed by: Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation Maksut Shadayev and Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan Rashad Nabiyev
Agreement between the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation and the Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan on cooperation on veterinary medicine
Signed by: Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation Sergei Levin and Chairman of the Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan Goshgar Tahmazli
Protocol on the transition to the integration of information systems in plant quarantine between the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Russian Federation) and the Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Signed by: Head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Sergei Dankvert and Chairman of the Food Safety Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan Goshgar Tahmazli
Protocol between the Federal Customs Service (Russian Federation) and the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan on mutual recognition of the results of customs control in relation to certain types of e-goods
Signed by: Head of the Federal Customs Service Vladimir Bulavin and Chairman of the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan Safar Mehdiyev
Memorandum of Understanding between the Russian Export Centre and the Azerbaijan Standardisation Institute
Signed by: General Director of the Russian Export Centre Veronika Nikishina and Minister of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mikayil Jabbarov
