Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 14
By Sara Israfilbayova - Trend:
The Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea will allow the energy cooperation of the Caspian states to reach a new, higher level, Deputy Energy Minister of Russia Anatoly Yanovsky said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
He said that Russia is ready to cooperate with all four countries of the region, including Azerbaijan.
“We already have positive experience of working together with Azerbaijani partners,” he noted. “Since the end of the 1990s, the Russian company Lukoil has been participating in a consortium to develop Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field in the Caspian Sea. The company’s share in the project is 10 percent.”
The deputy minister added that the value of investments for the entire period of participation in the consortium reached more than $2 billion.
“We have always focused on the development of cooperation, on the implementation of new projects, including in the development of hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian Sea,” he said. “The signing of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, of course, opens up new perspectives that are yet to be worked out.”
On Aug. 12, 2018, the presidents of five Caspian countries signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea at the 5th summit of the heads of Caspian countries in Aktau. The Convention is a historic document for the region, the work on which has been carried out for two decades since 1996.
Baku will host the first meeting of the working group for implementation of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea Feb. 19-20 with the participation of representatives of the Caspian littoral states.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @IsrafilbekovaS