Press Review August 14, 2018

A glance at the essence of the Convention on the status of the Caspian, and the situation in the country's economy are the leading topics of today's press.

The Azerbaijan newspaper writes about the signing by the five Caspian littoral states of the Convention on the status of the Caspian Sea, timed to the International Caspian Day celebrated on August 12.

The discussion of this issue lasted for 22 years. The negotiations held since 1996 were completed in December 2017. The Convention, in addition to the status of the reservoir, covered issues such as the division of the surface, the water column and the seabed of the Caspian, the determination of the national waters of the five countries, the obligations of the parties in the construction of large-scale international energy pipelines, and the inability of the military forces of other states to station in the waters of the Caspian.

The Novoye Vremya newspaper writes that the sanctions policy and the desire to influence the oil market should make all oil states think about counteracting these plans of Washington and develop their economies regardless of the situation on the world oil market.

The international rating agency Moody`s published on its website an article Credit Rating: Azerbaijan's Ba2 Stable Rating, in which, in particular, it reflected its forecasts on the economic development of the country. Hence, all the same, the stability of the manat and GDP growth are achieved through higher oil prices. Moody"s only recognizes a well-known fact. Then it is unclear what the Cabinet of Ministers and the Central Bank of Azerbaijan are doing for the growth of the economy and GDP.

The website Bizimyol presents its view on the Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea, signed in Aktau. The newspaper claims that the Caspian states have not yet resolved several issues, which will be gradually solved in a phased manner. One of the issues is the division of the bottom of the Caspian Sea. The problems between Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan refer specifically to this issue, the article says. The northern part of the Caspian Sea is divided between Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan on the principle of the middle line. However, the division of the southern part of the Caspian remains an unresolved issue. Experts cannot say when exactly this issue can be resolved.