“Russia is a very important partner for Azerbaijan”

Vestnik Kavkaza interviewed the deputy of the parliament of Azerbaijan, Rasim Musabekov.

- Please comment on the visit by France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy to the states of the South Caucasus?

- France has its own interest in each country of the region. As for Armenia, I think the visit was aimed at gaining certain support from the Armenian Diaspora in France. It is an important step ahead of the presidential elections, as Sarkozy has problems with his ratings.

Georgia. Considering the active participation of Sarkozy in the settlement of the Georgian-Russian conflict in South Ossetia in 2008, he has certain obligations in this context. You know very well that the West has a special attitude to Georgia, and it is supported in various spheres.

And Azerbaijan. I think economic interests are primary in this case. Azerbaijan is the centre of the economy of the South Caucasus in general. The French company Total is developing serious volumes of gas at the Absheron deposit. There are also projects in the oil sector. France will build a huge recycling plant in Azerbaijan. Almost 400 million euros are being invested in this enterprise.

And lastly, France is a co-chair of the Minsk Group on a Karabakh conflict settlement, which is deadlocked again. I think Sarkozy wanted to see for himself the abilities of the region and the prospects, which can be created in the settlement progress. A serious moment for the countries of the region is that France is one of the great powers, with huge political influence and economic potential. The other aspect is that, whereas Germany is the economic engine of the European Union, France is crucial in the political decisions of the EU. From this point of view, Sarkozy’s visit supports bilateral relations between the countries of the region and the EU.

- The next question is about Azerbaijan and its intention to become a non-permanent member of the Security Council of the UN. What do you think, can Russia’s opinion be crucial in deciding whether Azerbaijan obtains non-permanent membership of the UN Security Council?

- Of course, Russia’s disagreement could seriously decrease Azerbaijan’s chances. However, its support will hardly be crucial, as many voices are needed. Russian support doesn’t guarantee support by other states. Nevertheless, the fact that Russia supported Azerbaijan publicly is a positive moment for it.

- Following the theme of Azerbaijani-Russian relations and Putin’s article on the Eurasian Union, is the idea of the Eurasian Union by Putin interesting for Azerbaijan? How has Azerbaijan reacted to the article?

- At the moment it looks like selling air. When we speak about the European Union, we can see it exists and operates, it benefits the member-states. As for a new formation, it begins operating on January 1st. Whether it will be effective for the countries involved in it or not is doubtful.

This project is oriented towards those former Soviet republics that have maintained a high level of cooperation ties. Belarus and Russia have a high level of cooperation. Despite some problems, Ukraine and Russia have close ties in the spheres of the nuclear industry, aviation, ecology and so on. 90% of Russian communication goes through Belarus and Ukraine. Kazakhstan and Russia still have strong cooperation ties.

Azerbaijan and Russia cooperate as well. Russia is a very important partner for Azerbaijan. Its share in Azerbaijani trade links is 15%. However, today the majority of the transport and economic links of Azerbaijan lie through Georgia and Turkey. In this case, Putin’s project is not very attractive for Azerbaijan.

- Negotiations on transit of Azerbaijani gas through Turkey are due to end in late September. It is October already and no progress is seen. What is the reason? How can this delay influence prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the pipeline consortiums, which have already sent their proposals to SOCAR?

- The reason is money. Turkey is a very close country for Azerbaijan, but it is as close as Ukraine or Belarus for Russia. However, we are witnessing a hard process of bargaining between Russia and Ukraine. It is naive to think the same process between Azerbaijan and Turkey will be easier. Turkey wants to buy gas at less cost and more profits for transport, just like Ukraine.

The other question is where disputes will be settled. Turkey insists that the place for dispute settlement will be Turkish justice. Azerbaijan believes that, as Turkey is a related party, the right the place for settling disputes would be London or Stockholm. These are two issues which prevent negotiations progressing.

Turkey will be the main export route for Azerbaijani gas anyway. However, the country has other directions. We have the project AGRI, gas transit through Georgia to Romania. We also have proposals from Gazprom.

I think a compromise will be found and Turkey remains the key transit point for Azeri gas.

Interview by Sergey Rekeda. Exclusively for VK.