On October 9th Moscow hosted the XV session of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan. At the initiative of the chairman of the commission from the Russian side, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, the meeting was held on the territory of VDNH.
According to Dmitry Rogozin, today the dynamics of the index of trade between the two nations has become one of the best in the CIS. The Deputy Prime Minister highlighted the cooperation in the field of industry, energy and agricultural products.
According to Rogozin, "Issues of Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation in culture, education and the arts are also included in the report. Special importance is given to co-education in the organization. Let me remind you that almost 9 thousand Azerbaijani citizens were educated in Russian universities, including 1500 at the expense of the federal budget. 15 thousand Azerbaijani students study in Russian universities in Azerbaijan, in the branch of the M.V Lomonosov Moscow State University. 50 Russian-language publications and 7 news agencies are acting on the territory of Azerbaijan."
The co-chairman of the commission from the Azerbaijani side, Yaqub Eyyubov, stressed the profound historical nature of the dialogue between the two countries: "We always understand and know that Russia has always been with us and we have always been with Russia. We were always on the same side, and we got a lot from Russia. And we must speak about this."
The First Deputy Minister of Economic Development of Russia, Alexei Likhachev, stated after the committee meeting that the potential of the relations between the two states is far from being exhausted: "We took retaliatory measures to restrict the supply of a number of agricultural products from countries hostile to Russia. Free a space in the market, and we see how it is occupied by Azerbaijani companies, products, especially farms are very popular. Although there are reserves. And today, our Ministry of Agriculture discussed issues of mutual market access for agricultural products. There is the potential for Russian companies. So far, I think, the reserves in the field of industrial cooperation, in the field of large-scale projects, have not been selected completely. And here we can even talk about the projects, perhaps, with an eye on tomorrow, and in the helicopter industry, and shipbuilding, and in high technology. In tetms of our multilateral contacts, particularly in the CIS, we see a very reliable partner in Azerbaijan."
As the Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Russia, Polad Bulbuloglu, stated: "We're two friendly countries, so all the problems are solved, there are no such serious issues that cannot be solved. But, of course, there always has to be a mechanism to address emerging issues, because life is moving forward very quickly, poses new challenges, new problems, new issues. Today, a proposal was made to establish a business council. I think it will also strengthen this work. We are optimistic about the future."
