Azernews.Az

Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov has arrived in Azerbaijan for a working visit. Azerbaijan and Bulgaria held talks on multi-faceted cooperation during his meeting with Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev.
According to President Aliyev’s press-service, the Azerbaijan-Bulgaria relations, in particular in the fields of politics, economy and energy, were praised during the meeting. The two leaders also stressed the importance of high-level visits and emphasized the significance of the Bulgarian leader’s visit in terms of expanding bilateral relations.
President Aliyev highlighted the importance of Parvanov’s visit, describing it as "another important step" for the development of bilateral relationship and regional cooperation.
"We are ready for political, economic and cultural cooperation with you in order to fully avail of the potential for bilateral cooperation for the well-being of our countries and peoples, as well as strengthening relations between Azerbaijan and European institutions," Aliyev said.
President Parvanov, in turn, praised the relationship between Azerbaijan and Bulgaria, calling it "very cordial and good".
Parvanov said relations on the level of ministries and other organizations are developing very rapidly. "But it is also very important that relations between the heads of state give an impetus to development of ties in all areas," he said.
Presidents Aliyev and Parvanov made statements for the press following their meeting.
"Your visit is very important for development of Bulgaria-Azerbaijan relations. I am sure that results of the visit will take our relations forward," said Aliyev in his statement.
"Today, we intensively discussed our relations in the energy sector. There are good prospects in this field and concrete steps have already been taken. The Bulgaria-Azerbaijan memorandum in the gas field was signed last year in Sofia and the working group for the memorandum has already had some meetings," the president said.
Aliyev praised Bulgaria’s contribution to development of cooperation between Azerbaijani and European structures.
"We hopeful that implementation of the Eastern Partnership program would help push EU-Azerbaijan relations to a much higher level."
Speaking to journalists, President Parvanov expressed his satisfaction with talks held in Baku. He pointed out both countries enjoy truly friendly relations.
"Today`s talks can give an impetus to investment process. It can increase investment interests in both directions," the Bulgarian leader said.
The President hailed energy talks.
"We are pleased with the opportunity created for Bulgaria to purchase a billion cubic meters of gas from Azerbaijan... In my judgment, it will make an important contribution to my country`s energy security," he said.
Parvanov touched upon delivery of the compressed gas from Azerbaijan to Europe via Bulgaria.
"While the first project was bilateral, the compressed gas project can become regionally important... Thus, Azerbaijan can directly access European energy market," he said.
President Parvanov said there are good prospects for Azerbaijan-Bulgaria cooperation in the energy, education, science and cultural fields.
On the Garabagh conflict, he said "together with European institutions we try to lend support to the Minsk Group to settle the Nagorno Garabagh conflict". According to him, resolution of the conflict would contribute to successful development of the South Caucasus region.
Energy cooperation is said to be on the agenda of the Bulgarian president’s talks in Baku. One of the key issues will be jointly developing and implementing strategic energy projects.
President Aliyev paid an official visit to Bulgaria in November 2009 during which the two countries signed two documents on cooperation in the energy sector.
According to the Memorandum of Understanding signed by Bulgaria’s state-owned gas operator Bulgartransgaz, a subsidiary of Bulgargaz, and Azerbaijan’s state energy firm SOCAR, at least 1 billion cubic meters of Azerbaijani gas will be annually supplied to Bulgaria beginning in 2011-2012, allowing the Eastern European country to boost its energy security and diversify hydrocarbon supply routes, Bulgarian media reported.
The Bulgarian president’s visit, being paid at the invitation of President Aliyev, will last two days.*