Author: Elmira Tariverdiyeva, Baku. Exclusively for VK
“The economic ties between Azerbaijan and Russia will be trending up, because they are neighboring states and Baku is very interested in the Russian market, just as Moscow is interested in developing such relations, economic analyst Fuad Alizade told VK.
Azerbaijan has many financial resources successfully realized by Azerbaijani business and it feels cramped, the expert says.
“Azerbaijan and Russia have many spheres of economic cooperation, but, first of all, when we talk about cooperation of the two states, first of all we mean cooperation with nearby regions, especially Dagestan,” Alizade says.
According to the expert, Azerbaijani Minister for Economic Development Shakhin Mustafayev has recently had a meeting with the Dagestani government, where he noted that the geographic position of Azerbaijan and Dagestan dictates the need for formation of an Azerbaijani-Dagestani logistical transport center. Dagestan was offered to use Azerbaijani experience for construction of refrigeration complexes, bird-breeding enterprises in Dagestan, construction and reconstruction of winemaking enterprises, growing and storage of fruits and vegetables.
Alizade says that construction of the North-South railway, connecting Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia, may be one of the most interesting Russian and Azerbaijani transport projects. “Currently, due to various reasons, Iran cannot bear all the expenses for realizing the project, while Azerbaijan and Russia, with their free finances, are ready to realize the joint project and build a path towards India, China and the Gulf states. We must note the opportunity for promotion of Azerbaijani agricultural products on Russian markets,” the expert said.
Russia has its own economic interests in Azerbaijan, Moscow has said on various occasions that it would want to see Baku in integration projects, such as the Single Economic Space. But Azerbaijan, for obvious reasons, is not very active in the issue. “Azerbaijan’s main export (90%) is oil and oil products, which is why Baku is not interested in forming unified or supranational structures. But on the level of bilateral relations, Azerbaijan would be glad to have Russia taking part in metallurgy projects and other spheres, especially industry, he said.
Concerning the spheres the two states could develop, Alizade said: “You need to understand that the oil and gas sector of Azerbaijan will develop more ties and work with the West. But Baku is interested in Russian companies developing the non-oil industries – engineering, metallurgy. The two states will also have great prospects for cooperation in the tourism sector. There are successful examples of several Russian banks operating in the Azerbaijani market, insurance companies in insurance and the reinsurance business. The brewing company operating in Azerbaijan for many years is an example of joint ventures”.
According to Alizade, Azerbaijani interest in Russian industrial experience is due to the fact that Azerbaijani and Russian industry had connections during Soviet times, which stopped after the collapse of the Soviet Union and have not been restored yet. “The fact that Russia and Azerbaijan increased trade turnover by 60% in the last 9 months expresses volumes,” the expert believes.
Alizade is certain that Azerbaijan would mainly want a trade partner on its border rather than an aggressive neighbor. Trade is one of the best objects for dialogue between neighboring states. “I would not want economic relations between the two states to be limited with only two oil and gas corporations - Gazprom and SOCAR - and instead develop in other promising spheres”, Alizade said.
