BULGARIAN, AZERI LEADERS DISCUSS PIPELINES, ECONOMIC TIES, TERRORISM

BTA web site, Sofia
7 Oct 04

BAKU

Energy projects and transport infrastructure were among the highlights
of the Baku talks of President Georgi Purvanov Thursday (7
October). Purvanov started a two-day official visit here Thursday
morning, the second leg of a tour that also took him to Armenia.

Meeting with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Purvanov urged
Azerbaijan to consider other energy projects except
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) Pipeline, including
Burgas-Alexandrandroupolis and Burgas-Vlora pipelines, the Bulgarian
president told a news conference he gave jointly with his Azerbaijan
counterpart. I believe that in middle-term rather than in short-term
prospective Azerbaijan will eye positively these ideas, as Azerbaijan
has oil and gas, Europe needs these products and Bulgaria has an
important position as a transit point, Purvanov said.

The infrastructure development is the key to activating economic
relations. The infrastructure, both roads and pipelines, is the
greatest possible investment in both regions security. Purvanov said
that Bulgaria is interested and will be an active factor in the
development of both TRASEKA transport corridor and the energy
projects.

Earlier on Thursday, the official delegations of the two countries
held plenary talks. Bulgaria’s chairmanship of the Organization of
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) contributes much to solving
the Nagorni Karabakh conflict and we rely on your support in future as
well, Aliev said. He expressed conviction that Purvanov’s visit will
contribute to the deepening of the relations between the two
countries.

Purvanov said that it is very important to upgrade the statutory
framework between the two countries. He said he hopes that Azerbaijani
business will see in Bulgaria a door to the EU. Bulgaria as a NATO
member and a country, which will become an EU member very soon, may
interact well with Azerbaijan in the field of Euro-Atlantic
integration, the Bulgarian president said and added that the EU policy
to new neighbours should be full of real content and Bulgaria would be
an advocate for it. According to Purvanov, Bulgaria and Azerbaijan
being together in the fight against terrorism is an important factor
of the bilateral relations.

The two heads of state signed a joint statement for further
development of the friendly relations and cooperation. Other seven
bilateral documents were signed in their presence, including a mutual
protection of investments agreement, international combined cargo
transportation agreement, cooperation in health care and medical
science agreement and maritime navigation agreement. Later a protocol
of the second session of the joint intergovernmental
Bulgarian-Azerbaijani commission on trade, economic and scientific and
technological cooperation whose meeting took part in Baku, was
signed. An agreement for cooperation between the Bulgarian News Agency
BTA and the State Information Agency of Azerbaijan AzerTaj was signed
by both agencies’ general directors Maxim Minchev and Aslan Aslanov. A
declaration for twinning the towns of Gabrovo (central Bulgaria) and
Shaki was also signed.