Russia is ready to establish cooperation with Azerbaijan in the production of coronavirus vaccines. This was announced by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Thursday at a meeting in Moscow with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ali Asadov.
The chairman of the Russian Cabinet of Ministers noted that Moscow and Baku are jointly fighting the coronavirus infection. Russia promptly transferred special test systems to Azerbaijan, teams of Russian medical specialists were sent to the country, and the first batch of the Sputnik V vaccine was delivered to the republic in May, Mishustin said.
"We are also ready to set up production of the Russian vaccine together with you," he stressed.
According to the Russian Prime Minister, Moscow is ready to assist in setting up this production. "I am confident that this will allow organizing vaccination in a short time, vaccination of the population of both Azerbaijan and Russia," Mishustin added.
The head of the Russian Cabinet of Ministers said that following his talks with Asadov a number of agreements on deepening cooperation in such areas as the information sphere, intellectual property, customs cooperation, food security and veterinary science are planned to be signed.
Trade turnover between the two countries
Russia and Azerbaijan did not allow a significant reduction in trade turnover in 2020 against the backdrop of the pandemic, and in the first months of 2021, even managed to increase it. According to the Russian prime minister, in general, trade and economic cooperation between the two countries is actively developing.
"In 2020, under difficult conditions when there was a coronavirus, we did not allow a significant reduction in mutual trade turnover," Mishustin pointed out. - "And at the beginning of this year - from January to March - we increased the turnover by almost 3.5%, which is about $680 million, which is not a bad figure."
He noted that almost 1,000 companies with Russian capital are operating in Azerbaijan and a large number of large industrial projects are implemented. "An assembly factory of GAZ cars, a helicopter service center and a modern pharmaceutical complex are being established. Production of combine harvesters is also underway. A number of large-scale contracts are performed, including the supply of cars for the Baku metro," the Russian Prime Minister said.
According to Mishustin, the two states pay great attention to interregional relations as well. More than 70 Russian regions cooperate with Azerbaijan, he pointed out. "We are preparing for Russian-Azerbaijani interregional forum, which, of course, we will hold taking into account all limitations of our sanitary and epidemiological services", added the head of the Russian Cabinet of Ministers.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Federation Council
Based on materials from TASS