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Ladies and gentlemen,

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As you may remember, in mid-August President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev 

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and I took part in the Caspian Summit,

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where an extremely important convention on the legal status 

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of the Caspian Sea was signed.

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Today I am very glad to have this opportunity to meet with President 

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of the Republic of Azerbaijan during his visit to our country.

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The talks, which were held in a constructive and business-like 

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atmosphere, have just ended.

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I would like to stress that Russia and Azerbaijan are bound by strong 

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traditions of friendship and cooperation.

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The relationship between our states is a partnership that is mutually 

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beneficial and is based on the principles of neighbourly relations 

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and respect for each other’s interests.

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I am convinced that today’s talks,

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in which the heads of our key agencies and business leaders took part,

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will give an additional impetus to further developing the entire 

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complex of Russian-Azerbaijani relations.

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This is the aim of the joint statement the President of Azerbaijan 

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and I have signed along with a substantial set of intergovernmental 

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and interdepartmental agreements.

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First of all, I would like to highlight the Action Plan on Developing 

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Key Areas of Cooperation.

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This programme document includes roadmaps on such important issues 

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as increasing trade and mutual investments,

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creating new transport routes and expanding humanitarian cooperation,

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including cultural and tourism exchanges.

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As for bilateral economic ties,

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they are developing very actively.

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The Russia-Azerbaijan trade grew by nearly 35 percent 

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in 2017 to reach $2.5 billion.

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Russia’s direct capital investments in Azerbaijan have amounted to $1.

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5 billion. There are around 700 joint enterprises operating 

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on the Azerbaijani market, and around one third of them 

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have 100 percent Russian capital.

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Contacts between the business communities are growing,

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including between small and medium-sized businesses.

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Only last year the Russia-Azerbaijan business council rendered support 

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to 42 joint projects worth a total of over $450 million.

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Many Russian energy companies, such as Gazprom, Transneft and LUKOIL,

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are working successfully in Azerbaijan.

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In general, the energy systems of both Russia and Azerbaijan are 

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functioning in an integrated mode.

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Cooperation in the industrial sector is deepening.

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I would like to mention some successful joint projects that 

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Mr President and I have discussed.

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For instance, KAMAZ has set up the production of license trucks 

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and their maintenances at Ganja Auto Plant.

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The Russian company R-Pharm invested $74 million in the construction 

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of an enterprise in Azerbaijan that will produce pharmaceuticals.

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The enterprise will open in 2019.

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Gazprombank is taking part in the development of Sumgayit 

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Chemical Industrial Park. Investments amount to around $750 million.

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The North-South transport corridor,

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which will connect Western European markets with Asian producers,

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is considered to be one of the most important projects.

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This will allow substantially increasing the speed of freight 

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transportation from South Asia and the Middle East through 

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Iran to Europe. The total length of this corridor will exceed 7,

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000 kilometres. It will include railway,

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ferry and automobile communication.

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Yet the substantial part of the North-South corridor will pass through 

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Russia and Azerbaijan.

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I would like to underline that the work on some sections 

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of the route is already underway.

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Next year our countries intend to finish the construction 

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of the bridge over Samur, a border river.

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We discussed interregional cooperation as well.

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More than 70 constituent entities of the Russia Federation support 

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economic ties with Azerbaijan, and around 17 entered into framework 

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agreements on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation.

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This October there will be another interregional meeting,

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a regular interregional forum, and we have just discussed it.

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We planned to hold it in Ganja, but our friends may arrange it in Baku.

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We were glad to highlight the active bilateral contacts 

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in culture and education.

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More than 11,000 Azerbaijani students are studying in Russia,

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around one thousand of them have their tuition fees covered out 

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of the federal budget of the Russian Federation.

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More than 200 scholarships have been awarded to Azerbaijani students.

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Meetings of the Baku International Humanitarian Forum,

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which was established upon the initiative of the Presidents of Russia 

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and Azerbaijan, are held on a regular basis.

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The sixth session of the forum to be held at the end of the year 

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in Baku is expected to attract more than 500 participants.

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Of course, we shared opinions on international and regional matters.

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In particular we touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

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Russia, as a co-chairman of the Minsk Group,

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will continue to render all possible assistance 

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to the peaceful settlement of this conflict.

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In conclusion, I would like to thank the President of Azerbaijan 

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and all our Azerbaijani friends and colleagues 

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for the substantial and effective talks.

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I am convinced that the agreements we reached will serve to further 

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consolidate the Russian-Azerbaijani friendship,

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and promote the development of mutually beneficial 

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cooperation for the benefit of our nations.

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Thank you for your attention.

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Mr President, ladies and gentlemen,

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First of all, Mr President, I would like to thank you 

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for the invitation to visit Russia,

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for your hospitality and a warm reception.

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As you said, we meet on a regular basis.

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We met three times over the last three months.

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We had a meeting in June in Moscow, ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup,

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then again in August in Kazakhstan,

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and today in Sochi. I would like to take this opportunity to once again 

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congratulate Russia on the successful holding of a global event 

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and the Russian national team’s excellent performance at the World Cup.

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Regular contacts between our countries’ heads of state give an impetus 

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to our relations, which are built a very solid foundation.

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Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan are a strategic partnership.

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They cover all spheres of our life.

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Today, during my visit we discussed in great detail many aspects of our 

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bilateral relations and issues on the international agenda.

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Mr President spoke about it in detail.

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I would like to highlight that especially important among the issues we 

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discussed is the issue of regional security,

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in particular the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani 

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Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which has lasted for a very long time 

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and has caused enormous suffering for the people of Azerbaijan.

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For many years, the internationally recognised territory of Azerbaijan 

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has been occupied by Armenia.

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More than a million of Azerbaijani citizens became refugees 

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and displaced persons as a result of the conflict.

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The prompt settlement of the conflict will allow our citizens to return 

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to their historic homeland and will bring peace,

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stability and cooperation to our region.

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Russia, as a co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group,

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which deals with the settlement of the conflict,

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plays an important role in the process.

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Russia is our neighbour, historical partner and friend.

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We hope that Russia will continue to make every effort 

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to settle the conflict.

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We looked closely at economic issues and were satisfied to note 

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the growth in trade and positive outlook for the future.

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The matters we discussed and agreed today, in particular,

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the roadmaps on different areas of economic cooperation,

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will allow us to further boost trade between our countries,

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which is already very active.

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This year, despite last year’s rapid growth,

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trade continued to grow.

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Russia is Azerbaijan’s top partner in terms of imports and is number 

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one recipient of Azerbaijan’s non-oil exports.

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This testifies to the scale and importance of cooperation 

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between our countries.

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Many investment projects Mr President mentioned are being implemented 

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and are very promising.

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In general, we expect an increase in trade and the economy,

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the consolidation of integration ties and creation of even better 

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conditions for cooperation between our companies.

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Of course, transport projects play an important role.

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Russia and Azerbaijan are neighbours,

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we are connected by both railways and motorways,

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as well as very active air transportation,

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both passenger and cargo.

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We discussed in detail the future steps to create new transport 

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opportunities for our countries and for our neighbours.

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Mr President highlighted the importance of the North-South project.

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Azerbaijan, for its part, has already implemented all important 

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infrastructure projects in this area.

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This year, the North-South route will transport one hundred times more 

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cargos than last year.

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And this is only the beginning because this large-scale global project 

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will cover many countries and continents.

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Therefore, transport opportunities of our countries will increase 

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and thousands of new jobs will be created.

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Today we signed important documents on cooperation in the oil and gas 

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sector, a traditional sphere of our cooperation that has 

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an excellent potential.

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Mr President mentioned the active participation of Russian banks 

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in the implementation of many important transport,

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infrastructure and industrial projects in Azerbaijan. We welcome this.

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Today we discussed further military-technical cooperation,

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which has very rich traditions.

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The contracts implemented by Russia and Azerbaijan,

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to be more specific, the military goods bought by Azerbaijan from 

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Russia, are worth over $5 billion and continue to grow because 

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Azerbaijan continues to modernise its armed forces and Russia is a very 

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important global producer and supplier of military products 

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to the international markets.

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Cooperation in the humanitarian sphere had a very special 

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place in our discussion.

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People in Azerbaijan have a caring attitude towards Russian culture,

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the Russian language, and everything that unites our people and has 

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united them for centuries.

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There are more than 340 schools in Azerbaijan where the language 

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of instruction is Russian, and there are two branches 

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of leading Russian universities.

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Today we discussed further steps to consolidate cooperation 

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in the humanitarian sphere, in education and culture,

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and the documents we signed, including in the sphere of sport,

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will continue to unite our countries and people more and more.

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In other words the relations between our countries are friendly 

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and neighbourly, a full-fledged partnership,

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as it should be between good friends and neighbours.

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I would like to once again express my gratitude to Mr President 

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for the exchange of opinions, and I would like to invite you to visit 

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Azerbaijan at any time convenient to you.

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Thank you.

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Thank you very much.