Baltic News Service
June 9, 2006 Friday 3:06 PM EET

LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT CONTINUING VISIT TO AZERBAIJAN

VILNIUS Jun 09

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus is continuing his two-day visit
to Azerbaijan.

On Friday, Adamkus is scheduled to meet with the Azerbaijani prime
minister, attend a business forum, visit the Heidar Aliyev Foundation
and an oil terminal, where the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline linking
Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey starts.

Adamkus will also be conferred the title of honorary doctor at Baku
State University.

The Lithuanian president-led delegation will return to Vilnius Friday
evening.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan was one of the
poorest and economically backward USSR republics. However, due to
increasing oil prices in recent years, it has become one of the most
rapidly economically developing countries.

However, political observers admit that political tension related to
the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Mountain
Karabakh region hinders further improvement of the situation.

About 30,000 people were killed during 1992-1994 fights, several
hundred thousand Azerbaijanis were forced to become refugees in their
own country. Mountain Karabakh is currently controlled by Armenians,
and there is only a fragile truce between the two sides in the
conflict.