Azerbaijan, Baku, August 28 /Trend S.Agayeva/
The governments of Azerbaijan and Afghanistan will sign an agreement on cooperation in energy sector.
In the near future the governments of Azerbaijan and Afghanistan will sign an agreement on cooperation in energy sector, Azerbaijani ambassador to Afghanistan Dashgin Shikarov told to Trend on Tuesday.
The document is planned to sign during the visit of Afghan Minister of Natural Resources and Petroleum Wahidullah Shahrani to Azerbaijan, which will happen in early September, the diplomat noted.
Currently Azerbaijan is among the top five countries, which invest to Afghanistan and is ready to expand its investitions in the country, he noted.
"5 years ago Azerbaijani investor with his Afghan partner invested $ 30 million in oil refining in Afghanistan. In the near future based on the plans for private and public sector in Azerbaijan we are ready to invest about $1-2 billion in different sectors in Afghanistan," the diplomat said.
Currently in Mazari-e-Sharif Oil Refinery is launched, the funds were invested by Afghan and Azerbaijani investors. Currently it processes 500 tonnes of crude oil per day, its capacity will be increased to 1,500 tonnes per day.
According to Shikarov, large reserves of natural gas were discovered in the southern Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan, which has a big experience in oil sector, offered to use the experience of Azerbaijani specialists during field development in this country.
During its visit the delegation headed by Afghan Minister of Natural Resources and Petroleum will hold meetings in the ministries of Azerbaijan, to discuss all pressing issues in future cooperation.
As the result of negotiations it is planned to sign several bilateral documents on development of cooperation, Azerbaijani diplomat said.
According to Shikarov, Afghanistan is also interested in Azerbaijani investment to country's energy sector, and Afghan government provides all the guarantees for the security of investments.