Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Prospects of development of bilateral relations between Baku and Moscow in various fields was high on the agenda of talks between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and a Russian delegation led by Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin on September 25.

During the meeting, Azerbaijan's head of state said relations between the two countries are developing rapidly.

Calling for active cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia at the highest level, President Aliyev mentioned the importance of the issues discussed during the recent meeting of the Russian-Azerbaijani joint intergovernmental economic commission.

The head of state said the recent large-scale reconstruction works in Moscow have sparked great hope in both sides.

Speaking about the rapid development and landscaping works carried out in Baku, President Aliyev said the exchange of experiences between the capitals of the two countries would be fruitful.

The president also expressed confidence that the volume of Azerbaijani exports to Russia would increase.

Sobyanin, for his part, expressed his gratitude for the hospitality the delegation received in Azerbaijan.

"Friendly ties between Moscow and Azerbaijan date back to centuries ago. And it is very good that these relations continue to develop even today," he said.

The Moscow mayor said the volume of Azerbaijani products imported to the Russian capital has tripled and there are good grounds for further increasing of this figure.

Later, the Russian delegation was received by Azerbaijan's First Deputy Prime Minister Yagub Eyyubov and the sides held a fruitful meeting given the signed bilateral documents.

During the meeting, various companies from Baku and Moscow signed 48 agreements on delivery of Azerbaijani goods to Russia.

Also, Eyyubov and Sobyanin signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the Azerbaijani and Russian governments.

As part of the trip to Baku, the Russian delegation visited the National Flag Square and the Heydar Aliyev Center.

Russia is the main trade partner of Azerbaijan in the CIS. It also ranks first among the countries importing from Azerbaijan. The trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $3.6 billion in 2013, and "in January-July, 2014 this figure stood at $2.2 billion.

Currently, there are 570 companies with Russian capital in Azerbaijan. Russia has recently invested $628.4 million in Azerbaijan's fixed capital. But Azerbaijan's investment in the Russian economy for 10 years amounted to nearly $1 billion.