Governor of Astrakhan: 'We are discussing the terms of investment contracts with partners from Azerbaijan'

Report's interview with the Governor of the Astrakhan Region of the Russian Federation, Igor Babushkin.

- At the end of last year, the Governments of the Astrakhan region and Azerbaijan signed the Program of Measures for the Development of Cooperation for 2022. How does this program proceed?

- The implementation is going very well, we are in the active phase of interaction with our partners from Azerbaijan. You know that in December last year we opened the Astrakhan business center, which is actively working in Baku. At a meeting with the President of Azerbaijan in May, we agreed to consider the issue of concluding an agreement on twinning between Baku and Astrakhan.

Today we are active towards the implementation of promising projects in the field of shipbuilding, commodity exchange, organization of agricultural products processing, rail transportation, sea transportation. Today, all this is in an active phase, according to the current situation.

- What measures are being taken to attract and encourage Azerbaijani investments in the creation of modern agricultural complexes and enterprises for the deep processing of agricultural products in the Astrakhan region?

- We are still the "all-Russian orchard". Last year, we took first place in the cultivation and collection of fruits and vegetables. And of course, today the main direction is the organization of the production of processing agricultural products. And we also discuss with our partners and call for attracting investments to the Astrakhan region for growing agricultural products and organizing processing facilities here. Negotiations are now underway and are quite active. We have a number of areas in which, with our strategic partners, we select land plots and consider the terms of investment contracts.

- What are the opportunities for further development of trade, economic and investment cooperation between the Astrakhan region and Azerbaijan?

- I will not name the exact figure now, but we note the growth of trade turnover between the Astrakhan region and Baku. Traditionally, Baku is one of our important strategic partners. Today, the direction along the Volga-Caspian Canal, by rail, by road - all these transit routes lead through the Astrakhan region.

A trade and logistics center has been organized in the territory of our region with the participation of Azerbaijani capital, through which fruits and vegetables are transited today.

- At what stage are the negotiations between the Azerbaijani and Astrakhan shipbuilding enterprises? Are there joint projects?

- Now we are developing joint projects, namely the cooperation between the shipbuilding enterprises of the Astrakhan region and Azerbaijan in terms of joint shipbuilding. We have the prospect of ordering several cargo transport vessels from us at the Astrakhan shipyards.