Russia and Azerbaijan should increase the potential of bilateral economic cooperation, Chairperson of the Federation Council Committee on Agrifood Policy and Environmental Management Alexey Mayorov said, speaking with the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza.
"Today, the economic cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan is sufficient, but its potential is much higher. And we need to rump up this potential, because we can cooperate in both agriculture and energy. Although Russia and Azerbaijan are oil powers, we should increase cooperation in these areas as well," he stressed.
According to the senator, for this purpose it is necessary to develop transport logistics. "We have a border with Azerbaijan through Dagestan, but it needs to be improved in order to fully provide transport links and an unhindered transfer of goods," Alexei Mayorov explained.
The Chairperson of the Federation Council Committee on Agrifood Policy and Environmental Management also pointed to the existence of prospects for cooperation in agriculture. "We communicate with the Azerbaijani side either by telephone or by meeting at some international forums. For example, last year we held a large forum with Tajikistan, there was a large agricultural block, where issues of logistics and other things were discussed. I think that we have a lot of interests with Azerbaijan. Moreover, we are structurally similar. The same issues of the fishing industry, meat processing, w have similarities. We can cooperate in science and breeding," the senator said.
Speaking about the Convention on the Status of the Caspian Sea, adopted a year ago, he called this document truly necessary. "I believe that it really works. It is important that the general rules of the game in the Caspian, which allow us to develop interstate cooperation, have been worked out," Alexey Mayorov noted.
