The meeting, held in Astrakhan, was co-chaired by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk and Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev.
Alexei Overchuk chairs the 23rd meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan
Alexei Overchuk chairs the 23rd meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan
Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev
Signing documents following the 23rd meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexei Overchuk and Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev
Alexei Overchuk chairs the 23rd meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan
The 23rd meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan took placed in Astrakhan, co-chaired by Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Alexei Overchuk and Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev. Representatives of both countries’ relevant agencies took part in it.
The parties discussed the results of the implementation of the decisions adopted at the 22nd meeting of the commission, held in Baku on August 8–9, 2024, as well as the progress in implementing the action plan for the development of key areas of Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation for 2024–2026. They reviewed the full spectrum of bilateral trade, economic, cultural, and humanitarian relations and outlined priorities for further work.
During the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister highlighted the mutually beneficial nature of Russian-Azerbaijani relations. Among the priorities, Alexei Overchuk mentioned joint efforts to strengthen transport connectivity in the region, to build up an independent financial architecture for mutual payments, to deepen cooperation in the energy sector and other industries, including shipbuilding, agriculture, and joint projects in the Caspian Sea.
Russia remains one of Azerbaijan’s key economic partners, ranking third in the republic’s foreign
trade. In mutual trade, the two countries primarily use national currencies. In January-May 2025, the Russian rouble accounted for 79.8 percent of settlements
under foreign trade contracts between residents of Russia and Azerbaijan.
The Republic of Azerbaijan has about 1,800 companies with Russian capital on its market. Russian companies are carrying out investments projects, including in machine-building, construction, transport, chemical, pharmaceutical and medical industries.
“This year, we successfully completed a project to localise the production of insulin in Azerbaijan with the design capacity of 250,000 packages per year and made the first shipment of finished products. There is an opportunity to expand the range of the medicines produced. There are also plans to put into operation a plant turning out aluminum and steel composite panels. We are expanding cooperation in car manufacturing. A number of well-known Russian car makers are operating in Azerbaijan. A major project to develop public transport – the supply of 65 metro cars for the Baku metro service until 2026 – is being carried out successfully,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
The meeting participants highlighted the high level of inter-regional cooperation: 72 Russian regions are maintaining trade and economic ties with Azerbaijan. The two countries’ regions held 12 joint events since 2025. The inter-regional forum format has been mentioned as the most important platform for promoting such cooperation.
As a strategic priority, Alexei Overchuk identified the development of the transport sector and joint efforts to strengthen regional connectivity.
“We pay special attention to the development of the International North-South Transport Corridor and the implementation of all agreements reached with our Azerbaijani colleagues. In order to ensure the effective rollout of this route, the railways of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran are jointly testing technologies, including multimodal container services, while applying discounted railway tariffs,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted.
“We intend to continue cooperation on the North-South corridor, both bilaterally and trilaterally, together with our Iranian colleagues. We also see promising opportunities for launching cruise services on the Caspian Sea, enabling tourists to visit the ports of the Caspian states aboard passenger vessels flying the Russian flag. Today we discussed this matter and agreed to promote cruise shipping and tourism in the Caspian Sea region,” he added.
Following the meeting, the co-chairs signed the final protocol of the 23rd meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan.
The parties reaffirmed their commitment to continued constructive dialogue to further strengthen Russian-Azerbaijani relations across all areas of cooperation.
The Deputy Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to Astrakhan Region Governor Igor Babushkin for the high level of preparation and organisation of the meeting. He also highlighted the region’s significant contribution to the development of interregional cooperation, noting the symbolic importance of Astrakhan as the host city. He emphasised that this symbolism was underscored by the monument to the first President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev, erected there in 2010 as a testament to the enduring friendship and economic ties between the two countries.
