Statement by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev

- Dear Mr. President, welcome to Azerbaijan! We are pleased to see you in our country. I believe that your visit will give a further boost to the development of relations between our countries. We are very pleased with the level of cooperation with Bulgaria. Your country is one of our reliable partners in Europe, and there is a high level of cooperation between us.

We have just signed a joint declaration which covers various areas of our cooperation. This is evidence of the high-level dialogue between our countries and mutual support in international organizations.

It reflects the areas of economy, energy and culture. At the same time, it is very important to us that it also points to the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and underlines the importance of resolving the conflict only on the basis of international law, i.e. based on the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty and inviolability of state borders, and relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council. We express our gratitude to Bulgaria for its position based on justice and international law.

Today we discussed all aspects of cooperation. I believe that we of the issues discussed will be resolved. A lot has already been done, but there is still a lot to do. The cooperation between our countries is a significant part of our bilateral agenda.

Tomorrow we will participate in a historic event together. A groundbreaking ceremony of the Southern Gas Corridor will be organized. It will be a new chapter in European energy security and will allow Azerbaijan the opportunity to transport its natural resources to European markets.

I am glad that Bulgaria is a member of the Southern Gas Corridor project. This is an important project for us and for Europe. Azerbaijan will be able to transport gas to Bulgaria and to other countries through the territory of your country in the future. By expanding the geography of gas supplies by means of the huge reserves available, we will be able to reach out to your neighbors.

We will hold intensive consultations and coordination on the issue of energy security in the coming years too. Tomorrow we will begin concrete work involving many countries. This will require coordination and proper planning of our steps.

We are committed to the timely and highly profitable implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project, and I have no doubt that it will be the case. At the same time, we will be able to consider other projects in the energy sector, and we have discussed them today.

There are investment opportunities, possibilities for work in the construction sector and different ways of cooperation in a trilateral format. In short, our cooperation in the energy sector will create ample opportunities for our companies in important projects.

We have also discussed the issue of mutual investments. We welcome investments from Bulgaria to Azerbaijan and from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria. I am sure that it will also give a further impetus to our cooperation. In addition, I have also invited Bulgarian companies to Azerbaijan through Mr. President. Here they can invest in various infrastructure projects. Bulgarian companies can also work in our country as contractors.

In short, the high level of our political relations, as well as the warm and friendly relations, provides the business community with excellent opportunities to enhance our cooperation.

Mr. President, I want to thank you again for being with us at such a historic moment. Tomorrow we will celebrate an event that is of paramount importance to the development of Azerbaijan’s energy sector. Let me welcome you again. I believe that our cooperation will be continued.