Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, who completed his first official visit to the Azerbaijani capital Baku on Thursday, expressed his satisfaction with the two-day trip.

Azerbaijan and Georgia, its neighbor in the South Caucasus region, have maintained friendly relations for centuries.

On the first day of his visit, Ivanishvili met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The parties stressed the successfully developing Azerbaijan-Georgia relations in a variety of fields, including in the economic and energy sectors, and expressed confidence that bilateral ties would continue to expand.

The meeting was followed by a working dinner joined by the Azerbaijani and Georgian delegations.

The agenda of the Georgian PM's visit included the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway construction project, whose efficiency for Georgia was earlier questioned by Ivanishvili.

"Earlier I stated that after the commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, cargo transportation via Georgian railways may be reduced," he said. "But that was a premature statement. In fact, there is no problem in this issue."

During his talks in Azerbaijan Ivanishvili also made remarks concerning the price of gas imported by his country. According to Ivanishvili, Azerbaijan sells gas to Georgia at a very affordable price, which is slightly higher than the price consumers pay inside Azerbaijan.

"I thanked the president and the head of the Azerbaijani government for the conditions provided for Georgia," he said.

According to Azerbaijani news agency Trend's commentator Arzu Naghiyev, today, cargo including some petroleum products is delivered to Turkey and Europe from and via Azerbaijan by rail to the Georgian Black Sea ports. According to statistics, in 2011, 74% of the cargo unloaded at the port of Batumi or about 450,000 tons, was owned by Azerbaijan. Georgia's exports from Batumi made up 0.3%, or 2,000 tons, last year.

On the same day the Georgian delegation led by Ivanishvili held a meeting with Azerbaijani Prime Minister Artur Rasizade.

Rasizade emphasized that Azerbaijan highly values the level of relations with Georgia in political, economic and other fields and expressed his gratitude to Georgia for the support of Azerbaijan's fair stance in the international arena over the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

According to Rasizade, Azerbaijan and Georgia successfully implement large-scale projects and open new enterprises.

"Azerbaijan hosts 100 enterprises with Georgian capital, while 300 companies with Azerbaijani capital operate in Georgia. We are also planning to build a fertilizer plant in Georgia. All these projects will contribute to the economic benefits of our countries," Rasizade said.

"After the meetings with the President and Prime Minister of Azerbaijan, I was convinced that there are excellent relations between our countries. If there were any minor issues between us we could solve them in a friendly atmosphere," he said.

"I was expecting a very warm welcome in Azerbaijan. But we got more - a brotherly attitude," said Ivanishvili, adding that the relationship between the two friendly countries can serve as an example for other states.

The Georgian delegation visiting Azerbaijan included the country's foreign minister, the energy minister, the minister of economy, the minister for diaspora issues, the head of the Partnership Fund, and the director of the Georgian Development and Research Institute.

During the visit the delegation visited the Heydar Aliyev Center, the National Flag Square and Icherisheher, one of the world`s cultural heritage sites.

Ivanishvili told Georgian journalists that the Azerbaijani leadership has a farsighted attitude to governance. "I saw that it is a real state, which does a great job for its people."

After visiting Azerbaijan, Ivanishvili is due to pay a visit to Yerevan on January 17, and then visit Turkey. The date of his visit to the U.S. is not yet scheduled, but he says that the visit is tentatively planned for spring 2013.