Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. S.Agayeva / Qatar, Belgium, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Spain, Croatia, Switzerland, and Lithuania are all planning to open their embassies in Azerbaijan by the end of 2007, Vagif Sadikhov, the Deputy Foreign Minister, told journalists on 5 September. Turkmenistan intends to restore its embassy in Azerbaijan, Sadikhov said.
Turkmenistan's embassy ceased its activities in Baku in June 1999 after failure to reach an agreement on the disputable Kapaz field which is located in the Caspian between the two countries. According to information from the Ministry of Industry and Energy of Azerbaijan, the renewable reserves of the Kapaz field equal 50mln t of oil. The field was opened for operation during the Soviet regime by Azerbaijani oil workers. The American company Chevron and German company Wintershall are keen to develop the field.
Some fifty-five Azerbaijani diplomatic missions, forty-six embassies, five consulate generals, and four representatives in international organizations function in different countries. The government is planning to open another consulate general in Makhachkala, in the Republic of Dagestan, in the near future, Sadikhov said.