Russia invites Azerbaijan to the Unified Customs Union

The Third Russian-Azerbaijani inter-regional forum "Russian-Azerbaijani dialogue - 2012", which opened today in Baku, was devoted to the prospects of trade and economic relations between Russia and Azerbaijan.

The head of the Presidential Administration Ramiz Mehdiyev in his speech said that Azerbaijan is interested in strengthening ties with Russia, which has been and remains one of the main partners of Azerbaijan. The presence of a large Russian community in Azerbaijan promotes closeness between the two countries. Another indicator of this is the edition in Azerbaijan of about fifty magazines and newspapers in Russian.

The head of the interregional and cultural ties department of the Russian President, Vladimir Chernov, read a congratulatory letter from the Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to him, Russia, as well as Azerbaijan is interested in strengthening bilateral ties. Seven regions of Russia have strong economic ties with Azerbaijan and about five hundred Russian companies work in Azerbaijan. The trade turnover between the countries amounts to about three billion dollars.

The head of the Economic Development Ministry Shahin Mustafayev said that Azerbaijan has invested in the Russian economy 570 million manat and this process continues.

The speakers noted that further development of the trade relations between the countries is hindered by customs barriers. Russia has initiated the creation of the Common Customs Union within the CIS. After Russia's WTO accession, economic relations will be greatly simplified. When Azerbaijan joins the Common Customs Union, it will be able to take advantage of these benefits, said Vice-President of the Chamber of Commerce of Russia Georgy Petrov.

After discussions, the Forum adopted a final statement, which reflects all aspects of building and strengthening the economic relations. -05C04-