Azerbaijan - one of Wartsila’s main partners in Caspian region, official says
Azerbaijan is one of the main partners of Wartsila in the Caspian region, Azerbaijani Deputy Energy Minister Natig Abbasov said.
Abbasov made the remarks during Finland’s Wartsila Corporation’s presentation entitled "Liquefied Natural Gas Technologies", held with the support of the Azerbaijani Energy Ministry in Baku.
Wartsila is a global leader in advanced technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets.
"The corporation has been operating in the country for 12 years in such spheres as oil and gas industry, electric power engineering and sea transport,” he said. “In 2005-2010 this corporation successfully completed projects on construction of modular power stations with a total capacity of 880 megawatts in Azerbaijan.”
In his turn, Jan Tallgren, the Regional Director for Europe East, Energy Solutions at Wartsila, expressed gratification with the participation of the corporation in the implementation of various projects in Azerbaijan.
He said that the new office of the corporation opened in the country in 2008. The office renders sales services in the construction of power plants and shipbuilding.
The representatives of Azerbaijan’s SOCAR state oil company, the country’s Ministry of Emergency Situations, Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping CJSC, Baku Shipyard are participating in the event.
Azerbaijan-Iran-Russia platform improve political environment
Azerbaijan-Iran-Russia trilateral platform improve political and security environment in the region, Cyril Widdershoven, a Middle East geopolitical specialist, a partner at Dutch risk consultancy VEROCY and SVP MEA-Risk, told Trend.
Aside from Azerbaijan-Iran-Russia platform, Azerbaijan is also the initiator of such formats as Azerbaijan-Iran-Turkey, Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey and etc.
“From Azerbaijan's view point, it is the right step to take, increasing its cooperation with countries in the region,” said the expert.
Azerbaijan is having a vast interest in oil and gas operations in the region, including its energy cooperation with Iran, said Widdershoven, adding that this can be increased or enhanced via this kind of set up.
This kind of cooperation also strengthens regional cooperation. “Maybe it also will open up new investment opportunities in the countries,” he said.
Overall, the expert believes that it is a very good approach, as cooperation and discussions between countries improve political and security environments.
“Azerbaijan is set up its own position as a possible mediator or bridge between countries. This role is based on its geographical and historical position, which is to be commended,” said Widdershoven.
Azerbaijani, Iranian and Russian presidents held a trilateral meeting Nov. 1 in Tehran.
Ali Hasanov, Azerbaijani president’s aide for public and political affairs, said in an interview with Trend that this meeting is first of all, a platform important for ensuring stability, security and promoting collaborative environment in the region, for further development of trade-economic ties, cooperation in energy and transport sectors between the countries, and solution of other pressing issues
The mutual respect and fruitful cooperation between the three countries is of great importance for solution of pressing issues of the whole region, and all participants are determined to continue the fruitful cooperation, Hasanov added.
“I should also note that initiative and leadership of the majority of bilateral and multilateral meetings, held in the region lately, belong to Azerbaijan. The initiative to hold a tripartite meeting of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia, to create partnership between them, as well as the initiative of joint projects that are being implemented or intended to be implemented also came from Azerbaijan, and they have already begun to yield positive results.”