Azernews.Az

President Ilham Aliyev has established a high-powered group to conduct talks on extending Russia's lease of the Gabala radar station.

The group is led by Deputy Prime Minister Yaqub Eyyubov, Interfax-Azerbaijan reports.

It includes Defence Minister Safar Abiyev, Finance Minister Samir Sharifov, the chairman of the State Committee for Land and Cartography, Garib Mammadov, State Property Committee Chairman Kerem Hasanov, State Customs Committee Chairman Aydin Aliyev, Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov, Deputy Interior Minister Oruj Zalov, Deputy Tax Minister Sakhir Mammadkhanov, State Migration Service head Arzu Rahimov, a director general from the National Security Ministry, Nizami Shirinov and the head of the executive authority of Gabala District, Sabuhi Abdullayev.

The head of state has instructed the group to ensure agreement is reached with Russia on the status and principles of the lease and use of the Gabala radar station.

Russia's current lease expires on 24 December 2012.

Meanwhile, an unnamed military source has told APA that Russia and Azerbaijan have already agreed on the new rent for Gabala and most other issues concerning the lease. The source said that the new lease differs substantially from the current one, but did not reveal the changes or size of the rent.

Russia and Azerbaijan held talks on the new lease in mid-December. Russia has said that it would like to build a new radar station at the site.

A delegation from the Azerbaijani Defence Ministry will visit Moscow before the end of the month to hold the final discussions and sign the new document, the military source said.

Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov earlier said that the current annual rent of $7 million paid by Russia for the radar station is too low.

Azerbaijan is reported to be seeking a rental charge of $15 million per year.

Azerbaijan is also seeking other improvements in the lease, including extra funds from Russia to tackle the ecological impact of the radar station, more jobs for Azerbaijanis at the station, joint use of the station and a ban on passing data received at the station to third countries without the consent of Baku.

The Daryal-type radar in Gabala came into operation in 1985 and was one of the eight main stations of the USSR Missile Defence Complex. It has a range of up to 6,000 kilometres. The radar’s surveillance covers Iran, Turkey, India, Iraq and the entire Middle East. The station can track the trajectory of a missile, allowing for it to be intercepted.