Saakashvili Meets Aliyev in Baku

President Aliyev (left) and President Saakashvili (right) review the Azerbaijani army honor guard during an official welcoming ceremony in Baku, March ۶. Photo: Azerbaijani President's press office.
President Saakashvili, who pays a two-day official visit to Baku, met his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on March ۶.

The two Presidents “expressed satisfaction over successful development of bilateral relations” and noted importance of further deepening ties, the Azerbaijani president’s office said in a press release.

"One of the main reasons why I am always glad to meet our brother Ilham is that issues are being solved promptly and efficiently," President Saakashvili said after the meeting, adding that relationship between Georgia and Azerbaijan was an example other countries should follow.

He said that an agreement had been reached to construct in Georgia a large factory for urea production, which is mainly used in agriculture sector as fertilizer and an animal feed additive. Saakashvili said that the factory would be built between Black Sea port of Poti and Kulevi.

Saakashvili also said that the two countries also agreed to set up "a joint electricity company, which will jointly produce electricity and export it to third countries, which means investment of Azerbaijani money in construction of hydro power plants in Georgia."

He also said that Azerbaijan's decisions taken from "the position of a friend" in respect of gas supplies was one of the factors that helped Georgia to gain its energy independence and become a fast developing country.

Saakashvili also underlined importance of ongoing construction of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which will link Azerbaijan with Turkey via Georgia. He said that Azerbaijan was investing USD ۳۲۰ million only this year into the project. Last year Azerbaijan agreed to give Georgia additional USD ۵۷۵ million loan for construction of Georgian section of the railway on top of USD ۲۰۰ million loan, which Baku agreed to allocate in ۲۰۰۷.

In Azerbaijan Georgian President is accompanied by ministers of energy, infrastructure, economy development, culture, as well as minister for sport.