Baku News

06 October 2006 [14:53] - Itar-Tass - Azerbaijan favours Russian companies to participate in the development of oil deposits on its territory, said Elmar Mammadyarov, the Azerbaijani foreign minister. "If Russian companies will be willing to participate in developing our oilfields, we will only welcome this. It will depend on how active the Russian oil-and-gas sector will be ," Mammadyarov told Itar-Tass on Thursday. "Russian- Azerbaijani relations make very good progress. Many interesting projects are being implemented in the economic, cultural and educational areas," he noted. Besides, Mammadyarov said, relations between Russia and Azerbaijan will set a good example to countries, like Georgia. "Our ties are developing along the lines of mutual respect and concurrence," the minister said. "Given the lack of the language barrier, the existence of a huge market, as in Russia, the possibilities for the development of Azerbaijani agriculture, and the existing cultural closeness, it would be a mistake not to help promoting our business relations," Mammadyarov said.