"I have repeatedly been to Baku. I believe that Baku has made a crazy breakthrough in terms of urban planning. It is a modern city with a good urban environment, cozy, comfortable and very safe," Minister of Construction and Housing of Russia Vladimir Yakushev said in an exclusive interview with Report's Russian bureau on the sidelines of the 33rd St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
“Prior to being a minister, on my governor post, I observed security issues in the city center at nights. A very safe city. I was struck by the road facilities, how road interchanges are arranged,” he noted.
According to the minister, Azerbaijan has a very good construction school: “We all came out of the Soviet Union, but still there were several directions in the USSR. So Azerbaijan is one of such serious construction schools. You built not only in your republic, but also far beyond its borders. And this is not only housing, but also civil, oil construction. You have always had strong specialists."
Speaking about the development of economic relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, Vladimir Yakushev stressed that relations between our countries are very warm, comradely: "As for my direct area - construction, housing and utilities, the urban environment - we have mutual understanding with the Azerbaijani side. I am sure that we will continue to move in this direction. And especially now in the framework of the national project we need to look for new creative solutions. I’m just sure that I will learn a lot of interesting things from my colleagues. And, of course, we will also share all the more interesting that we have."