Azerbaijan raises issue of updating tax agreement with Russia, Bahrain proposes signing new one - Sazanov

ST. PETERSBURG. June 19 (Interfax) - Azerbaijan has expressed interest in making adjustments to its double taxation agreement with Russia, while Bahrain has proposed signing a new agreement, Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov said.

He said that the Russian Finance Ministry was not planning any changes to tax agreements in the near future and that any requests to do so should come from businesses or the other countries.

"It will either be a request by Russian businesses or by other countries that want to negotiate with us to change an agreement or create a new one. Azerbaijan has expressed its interest in doing this, and so has Bahrain. We will talk about it with our colleagues and if we find a solution that is worthwhile and acceptable to both sides, we will move forward," he said in a speech during a session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Bahrain and Russia do not currently have a valid tax agreement, while the agreement between Azerbaijan and Russia has been in place since 1997.

"Here, to a large extent, we are focusing on the requests of businesses. If they highlight countries where there is no double taxation agreement or one which is out of date, we are prepared to act on their request," the deputy minister said.