Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan’s seeking to increase more than 40-fold Russia’s lease payment for the Gabala missile early-warning radar have deadlocked the ongoing negotiations on the issue, the Russian Kommersant newspaper claimed.

In an article titled "Azerbaijan strikes a retaliatory blow", Kommersant said Baku is seeking to raise the payment for leasing the mammoth Soviet-era radar station to a staggering $300 million from the current $7 million per year. The newspaper quoted a Russian Defense Ministry source as saying that the proposed fee is inadequate, and if Baku insists, Moscow will turn down further operation of the facility, which is located in Azerbaijan’s northern Gabala region.

Unexpected move
Negotiations on Russia’s further lease of the Gabala radar faced a stumbling block during their very first round this year, and the emerging problems were confirmed by Russia’s Ministries of Defense and Foreign Affairs, Kommersant said.

The decision of Azerbaijan, which has so far been satisfied with the annual payment of $7 million, to raise the fee to $300 million, was unexpected for Russia, it said.

The Gabala radar station was built as one of anti-missile elements of the Soviet missile shield. After Azerbaijan gained independence, the radar station became the country's property but Russia continued to operate the facility.

The ten-year agreement on Russian lease of the radar station expires in December 2012. If either of the sides does not warn it is seeking to pull out of the agreement six months before its expiry, the document is automatically extended for another three years. Azerbaijan and Russia must therefore iron out their differences before the six-month period ends on June 9, 2012.

Russia is seeking to prolong its lease of the Gabala radar for 25 more years. The country’s Defense Ministry said last November that all the outstanding issues with Azerbaijan had been resolved except the financial issue. Baku was seeking a lease payment of $15 million per year at that time.

But Russia’s attempts to bring down the fee have produced an opposite effect, as Azerbaijan first asked for $150 million and later raised it to $300 million, according to Kommersant.

Threats to withdraw
A Russian Defense Ministry source told Kommersant that Azerbaijan has not substantiated the new fee for leasing the radar station. Another top source at the ministry commented in a more abrupt manner, "If Baku does not reduce its financial appetite, we will leave Gabala."

But a withdrawal from Gabala could cause big problems for Russia, the newspaper says. The new Voronezh-DM facility based in the Russian city of Armavir on the Black Sea coast could replace the Gabala radar to some extent, but its new section, which is meant to monitor the areas currently tracked by the Azerbaijani radar, has not been put into operation yet, the article says.

Moreover, as soon as Russia pulls out of Gabala, the United States or Turkey could aspire to run the facility, it said.

Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said while commenting on the article that the first round of talks between Moscow and Baku on the Gabala radar station issue was "very constructive".

"We will soon clarify with our Azerbaijani counterparts when the negotiations will be continued," he told Interfax ABN news agency, adding that the next round of talks will be held in Baku.

The Gabala radar station allows to track territory spanning 6,000 km, including Iran, Turkey, India, the Middle East, as well as the Indian Ocean and a part of the Australian continent. The early warning equipment would immediately track mid-range missiles with nuclear warheads potentially launched from these territories.