Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 6 / Trend, A. Akhundov /
Lack of an agreement between Azerbaijan and Russia on the protection of mutual investments inhibits their growth, Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Vladimir Dorokhin said at a meeting of the Caspian-European Integration Business Club (CEIBC) on Wednesday.
"The main reasons behind the delay of the conclusion of this agreement are fundamental differences regarding the definitions of national sectors. Russia will not sign an agreement without defining national sectors, while Azerbaijan does not intend to move away from its position.
Therefore, entrepreneurs will have to work within the existing framework at the moment," Dorokhin said.
He said as of today, Russian businessmen have invested about $60-70 million in Azerbaijan's economy.
"This is a very low volume. Such a low volume is caused by the fact that the scope of business projects is limited in the non-oil sector of Azerbaijan due to this sector's youth and continued development, as well as due to limited possibilities of Russian business," he said.
In particular, the governments of the two countries are not yet able to reach a compromise on the issue of extending the agreement for a particular period of time. Azerbaijan offers to make it apply for the whole history of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia, while Russia insists on a coverage period beginning in 1992.