The meeting took place on the sidelines of meetings of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council and the CIS Heads of Government Council.
Excerpts from the transcript:
Conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ali Hidayat oglu Asadov
Conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ali Hidayat oglu Asadov
Conversation with Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ali Hidayat oglu Asadov
Mikhail Mishustin: Mr Asadov, dear friends,
I am sincerely delighted to meet with you again and, of course, I would like, first of all, to ask you to convey our best wishes to President of Azerbaijan, esteemed Ilham Aliyev, from President of Russia Vladimir Putin and from me personally. It is with unfailing warmth that I recall my visit to friendly Azerbaijan in November last year and our constructive talks.
We are sincerely interested in strengthening our friendly, partner-like and allied relations with Azerbaijan. It is important that we invigorate our efforts at the level of governments to expand our trade and economic cooperation still further and to launch new joint projects.
We are cooperating in various interesting spheres, including energy, industry, the shipbuilding sector, the transport infrastructure, agriculture, high technology, innovation and many other sectors.
Despite the complicated foreign economic situation and greater illegal sanctions imposed by the collective West, Russian-Azerbaijani trade volumes continue to increase steadily. Last year, bilateral trade increased by 25 percent and reached a record-breaking 300 billion Russian roubles or 7 billion Azerbaijani manats. In January-April this year, our trade increased by another 21 percent, to 98 billion roubles or 2 billion manats.
We see transport and logistics as one of the most promising areas. We can and must take advantage of the convenient location of Russia and Azerbaijan, and we should develop our transit potential more actively, as our presidents, Mr Putin and Mr Aliyev, are saying. We need to expand the capacity of the border checkpoints and develop the railway, highway and marine infrastructure within the framework of the North-South International Transport Corridor. I am confident that this corridor will be able to compete with the Suez Canal in the future. According to specialists, this will make it possible to shorten freight delivery times from the Baltic Sea to the Persian Gulf ports to 10 days.
We also prioritise cultural and humanitarian cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan. This year, Russia marked the 100th birth anniversary of Heydar Aliyev in a grand way. Of course, it is our pleasure to invite Azerbaijan, as a guest country, to the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
We attach special significance to the process of unblocking the economic and transport connections in the South Caucasus; we are interested in peace, stability and prosperity in our common region. On 25 May, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia talked about this at their meeting at the Kremlin.
We are convinced that the creation of new routes meets the interests of all regional states.
Esteemed Mr Asadov, dear friends. We have an extensive common agenda. Mr Prime Minister, you have the floor.
Ali Hidayat oglu Asadov: Esteemed Mr Mishustin, members of the Russian delegation. First of all, I would like to thank you for the traditionally warm reception, the high level of organisation and hospitality accorded us everywhere and in the city of Sochi today.
In a couple of days, Russia will celebrate Russia Day. On behalf of our delegation and myself, I would like to congratulate you, Mr Mishustin, and all members of the Russian delegation.
I would like to use this opportunity to sincerely thank the Government of Russia and you personally for the events dedicated to the 100th birth anniversary of the national leader of the people of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev.
An active political dialogue and personal contact between presidents Ilham Aliyev and Vladimir Putin ensure dynamic bilateral cooperation in all spheres. In this connection, we should note the importance of the recent visit by the President of Azerbaijan to Moscow where he took part, as a guest, in a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council. You also noted this.On 22 February, we signed the Declaration on Allied Interaction, and this elevated our relations to a new level. Mr Mishustin, we have positive memories of your visit to Azerbaijan in November 2022. Together with you, we successfully held the 11th Azerbaijani-Russian Interregional Forum that provided new and substantial impetus to expanding Azerbaijani-Russian ties.The Intergovernmental Commission, chaired by our deputy prime ministers, assumes special responsibility. Soon, in late June, its members will hold their regular 21st meeting, in Moscow. We hope to adopt new decisions at this meeting, and they will fill our cooperation with new content. We are ready to continue working hard to expand our strategic partnership in all spheres of mutual interest.Mr Mishustin, as you said, we have a broad agenda for discussion.
Thank you.
