Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 24 / Trend E. Ismayilov /
According to the forecasts, Azerbaijani and Ukrainian trade turnover volume in 2012 is expected to reach $800 million compared to $1.3 billion in 2011, Ukrainian ambassador to Azerbaijan Alexander Mishchenko told media today.
He said that as of 11 months of 2012, the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to about $700 million which means a 44 per cent decline compared to the same period of 2011.
"This reduction by $518 million is explained by the suspended purchase of Azerbaijani oil by Ukrainian refineries," he said. "The suspended import is connected with the fact that the refineries did not receive the economic benefits from processing Azerbaijani oil because of their unsuitability for light oil processing."
The ambassador said that like many refineries in the post-Soviet area, Ukrainian oil refineries focus on processing heavier Russian oil. At present these refineries are being reconstructed to ensure light oil processing, Mishchenko said.
However, the ambassador said that high indices in foreign economic transactions are observed in the non-oil sector.