Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili started his two-day visit to Azerbaijan on Wednesday, Trend news agency reported.

A guard of honor was lined up at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport of Baku, decorated with state flags of the two countries.

PM Ivanishvili was welcomed by First Deputy Prime Minister of Azerbaijan Yaqub Eyyubov and other officials.

The Georgian prime minister and the Azerbaijani deputy PM had a short conversation at the airport`s VIP room.

Ivanishvili is accompanied by the ministers of foreign affairs, energy, economy and diaspora issues.

He is due to meet first with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Azerbaijani gas supplies and prices, and the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will be among the main topics of discussions.

Earlier, at a briefing with Georgian journalists, Ivanishvili said the issues of delimitation of the Georgia-Azerbaijan border will also be discussed at his meeting with President Aliyev in Baku. "The issues of David Garechi monastery complex, the Red Bridge and other sites will be discussed and we are interested in resolving these issues," he said.

Ivanishvili noted that Georgia and Azerbaijan enjoy good relations and therefore there won't be any difficulties in solving the outstanding problems, and they will be settled "in a traditionally friendly atmosphere."

It is Ivanishvili`s first visit to Azerbaijan as Prime Minister after the October 1 parliamentary election. He paid his first official foreign visit to Brussels in November. Ivanishvili is scheduled to visit Armenia and Turkey next.

Azerbaijan and Georgia broadly cooperate in regional energy development, transport, economic and other important projects.

The two countries have long-standing and successful cooperation in the energy sector. The main routes for the delivery of Azerbaijani oil and gas lie through Georgia, including the Baku-Supsa and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil piplelines and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline. Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR is closely involved in the energy market of Georgia.

Another important joint project is the construction of a new SOCAR plant in the free industrial zone in Kulevi, Georgia for carbamide production.

Also, the two countries are implementing the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project, which aims to directly link the railway systems of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to transport large amounts of cargo and passengers.

Azerbaijan has long been the second biggest trade partner of Georgia. According to the Georgian statistics body, Azerbaijan accounts for 12.2% of Georgia's foreign trade.

The two countries have so far signed 90 bilateral agreements, with 50 of them associated with economic relations.