Russia, Azerbaijan discuss initiatives to expand oil, gas cooperation in upstream, transit sectors

MOSCOW. Oct 31 (Interfax) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and Azerbaijani Economy Minister Mikayil Jabbarov have discussed enhancing bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas and electricity sectors and developing renewable energy sources.

"Russia's largest oil and gas concerns are working with Azerbaijan and stand ready to expand cooperation. In particular, there are a number of new initiatives for the transit and processing of Russian hydrocarbons at Azerbaijani facilities. The task is to consolidate our efforts," Novak said in a statement on the Russian government website.

The agenda of the talks included Russian oil and gas companies' participation in new extraction projects in Azerbaijan and scaling up their businesses for fuel sales in the country, including the issues of increasing Russian reverse oil deliveries via the Tikhoretsk-Baku oil pipeline.

The parties also discussed the prospects of building technological cooperation between Russian and Azerbaijani companies as part of the import substitution policy, the statement said.