Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had a meeting with Azerbaijan’s First Deputy Prime Minister Yagub Eyyubov in Minsk on October 28 which mainly focused on discussion of the role of Belarus in peaceful negotiations, as well as, bilateral ties between the two countries.

At the beginning of the meeting, Lukashenko emphasized that the sides have something to talk about on this Belarusian-Azerbaijani platform.

Minsk fulfills its obligations of the peaceful platform for negotiations, BelTA news agency quoted Lukashenko as saying.

“Firstly, I want to congratulate you with the exam, which your state power successfully passed in Azerbaijan – the referendum. Its results are the best proof of the Azerbaijani people’s attitude towards the authorities in this difficult time,” said the Belarusian president.

“This is a big victory, and I know how it is seen in the world,” he noted adding that Azerbaijan’s image has considerably improved.

He said that the Azerbaijani and Belarusian presidents agreed to meet on November 28-29.

Lukashenko believes that the meeting with Yagub Eyyubov will be the appropriate step to prepare for the upcoming negotiations at the highest level.

“There are a number of problems that we will seriously discuss,” he said.

He also drew attention to the fact that the Belarusian capital has become a broad platform of international meetings. In particular, Minsk hosted a meeting of the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) on October 27.

Moreover, heads of governments of the CIS (the Commonwealth of Independent States) countries met in the Belarusian capital on October 28.

Minsk is hosting a large-scale international conference of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The working group on Ukraine is also in session in the Belarusian capital on these days.

Yagub Eyyubov, for his part, said that Belarus and Alexander Lukashenko are the closest and dearest for Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani people.

Azerbaijan and Belarus enjoy friendly relations based on mutual understanding and respect

The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Belarus amounted to 28.81 million manats ($18.41 million) in January-May 2016 and 20.83 million manats ($13.31 million) fell on imports of Belarusian goods, according to the State Customs Committee.

Belarus mainly exports to Azerbaijan instruments, apparatus and models, designed for demonstration purposes, sawn timber, spare parts for cars and tractors, tractors, plywood, lumber and engines.

Azerbaijan exports to Belarus oil products, acyclic hydrocarbons, clay, fruit and vegetable juices, and polymers of ethylene.

One of the bright examples of fruitful cooperation is the joint project on the production of Belarusian tractors MTZ and machinery of the Minsk automobile plant MZKT at the Ganja Automobile Plant of Azerbaijan, which produced 6,000 "Belarus" tractors and about 3,000 cars and trailers from 2007 to 2015.

This May Ganja Automobile Plant and Minsk Tractor Works signed a memorandum on the delivery and assembly of 2,000 Belarusian tractors in Azerbaijan in 2016. The sides reached an agreement on the joint output of finished products on the markets of third countries, as well as localization of production in Azerbaijan.

Investments in Belarus economy by Azerbaijan have amounted to $100 million since 2011.

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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova

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