Azerbaijan and Ukraine signed a number of documents |Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan

On January 31, the 12^th meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Ukraine was held in Kiev. A meeting was held between the co-chairs of the commission - the Minister of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan Parviz Shahbazov and the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Vladislav Krykliy before the confrence. At the meeting it was noted that the visit of President of Ukraine Volodymy Zelensky to our country and negotiations with President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in December last year laid the foundation for the development of Ukrainian-Azerbaijani relations at a new stage. It was mentioned that holding a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission is one of the positive turns of this visit, and the heads of states set important tasks for the commission to expand economic cooperation.

At a meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission, the current situation and prospects for energy, transport, agriculture, tourism and infrastructure as areas of interest in economic relations were reviewed. It was noted that in 2019, trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Ukraine amounted to 808 million USD. Last year, Ukraine took 9^thplace in the foreign trade turnover of our country, 7^th in import, 16^th in export. Economic cooperation can further develop thanks to the activities of trading houses in both countries, new investment projects in perpective areas and industrial parks, and the establishment of export-oriented joint ventures.

According to Parviz Shahbazov, the co-chair of the commission and the Minister of Energy, last year major part of Azerbaijan’s exports to Ukraine were crude oil. “SOCAR Energy Ukraine” company has invested more than 304 million USD. In this country there are more than 60 filling stations and 4 oil depots of the company. Along with the oil and gas sector, including the expansion of SOCAR's activities in Ukraine, proposals for cooperation in renewable energy and energy efficiency, as well as in the non-oil sector, are emerging as new potential directions of our economic ties: “Within the visit, as the delegation of business circles, we got acquainted with infrastructure projects in Odessa and Kiev and listened to recommendations. I think that following these discussions we will be able to implement joint investment projects in many areas in the future and further strengthen our cooperation. There is political will, determination and opportunity for this. We are open to cooperation in all areas, and I believe that the meeting of the commission will contribute to the solution of these issues”.

Stressing that so far, 270 billion USD have been invested in our country, the minister noted that the reform course led by the President of Azerbaijan also serves to diversify the economy, develop the non-oil sector and further improve the investment climate.

Vladislav Krykliy, the co-chair of the commission and the Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine said that there is a target to increase the trade turnover to 2 billion USD between two countries. To this end, it is important to continue intensive ties, effective cooperation between companies of both countries on potential projects.

After the discussions, a protocol was signed on the outcomes of the meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission. In addition, “Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Ministry of Energy and Environmental Protection of Ukraine”, “Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the conduct of paid types of labor by family members of employees of diplomatic missions and consular offices” , “Agreement on cooperation between the Lviv Regional State Administration (Ukraine) and Nakhchivan CIty Executive Authority of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (Azerbaijan Republic)”, “Memorandum of Understanding between the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Agency for the Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises of the Republic of Azerbaijan”, “Agreement on scientific and technical cooperation between Ukrainian Wine Institute and the Scientific Research Institute of Viticulture and Winemaking of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Azerbaijan” were signed.