Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov is on visit to Moscow

Azerbaijani Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov is on a visit to Moscow to discuss bilateral trade and economic cooperation, Azernews reports, citing the Russian media.

The minister met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade of Russia Denis Manturov and Chairman of the country's Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina.

Information about the negotiations was disseminated by the press services of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the Russian Cabinet of Ministers.

The Azerbaijani minister of economy and the head of the Central Bank talked about the economic situation in both countries, discussed bilateral trade and economic relations, and touched upon some aspects of the Russian-Azerbaijani financial agenda.

It should be noted that during the visit of Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov to Baku in early March 2024, he called for expanding interaction between the banks of the two countries and connecting Azerbaijani banks to the financial message transmission system of the Bank of Russia.

In addition, negotiations between Jabbarov and Manturov also took place in Moscow.

“The Russian-Azerbaijani trade is demonstrating good dynamics. Our interaction in the field of industry is developing generally positively - a number of large cooperation projects are being implemented in key sectors of the economy,” said Manturov.

As an example, the deputy prime minister cited such industries as automotive and railway engineering, and also noted aircraft manufacturing and pharmaceuticals. In addition, the minister spoke about the great potential that exists in online trading.

Manturov also invited the Azerbaijani minister to the international industrial exhibition “Innoprom.” It will take place in Yekaterinburg in July.

In March, during a meeting with Reshetnikov in Baku, Mikayil Jabbarov noted that there is great potential for increasing ties with Russia in industry, transport, environmental protection, and agriculture, as well as for new areas of cooperation. “The realization of this potential is the main priority on the economic agenda for us,” Jabbarov emphasised.

Russia is one of the five largest investors in the Azerbaijani economy. At the end of last year, the country invested almost $274 million in Azerbaijan. Currently, various projects with Russian participation are being implemented in the republic for a total amount of almost $624 million - from IT and aircraft manufacturing to medical and light industry.

At the end of 2023, trade turnover reached $4.1 billion and grew in physical volumes by almost a third. At the same time, more than half of Russian-Azerbaijani trade is carried out in national currencies - 54.2%.

More than 70 Russian entities cooperate with Azerbaijan. The most actively developing trade relations with Azerbaijan are Moscow and St. Petersburg, the Moscow, Chelyabinsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Sverdlovsk, and Saratov regions, the Stavropol and Krasnodar territories, and the Republic of Tatarstan.