Dear Viktor Fyodorovych!

Dear guests and dear friends!

I am happy to welcome all our guests to Azerbaijan once more. Today is a very remarkable day in the history of our relations. Ukrainian President Viktor Fyodorovych Yanukovych is paying his first visit to Azerbaijan as president.

We have known Viktor Fyodorovych for a long time. The Azerbaijani people know him as our friend. He has visited our country in previous years, but is here now for the first time as president.

Naturally, we have waited impatiently for Viktor Fyodorovych, and with great hopes. As you know, I visited Ukraine late last year. It was a very successful visit. Today Viktor Fyodorovych is our guest. This is an indication of the dynamism typical of our relations, enabling the resolution of important issues on the agenda of our relations in a flexible and specific manner. Our peoples have been joined in cooperative relations for years, decades, centuries. It is very important that we have managed to sustain all the good that connects and unites us through the years of independence, whose 20th anniversary we will be marking this year. In those years of independence, Ukraine and Azerbaijan have worked as partners and friends; as strategic partners in all fields. Today we are examining the broad agenda of our relations. We note with a feeling of satisfaction once again that our political relations, mutual support and active cooperation in international organizations are at a high level.

The effective economic cooperation we are talking about will be felt even more clearly in the future. The growth in commodity exchange was at its highest level in the history of our relations last year. Cooperation in the humanitarian and energy spheres, as well as on a broad range of issues is also of mutual interest. There is complete mutual understanding between us in all spheres, alongside our mutual efforts to work energetically, cooperate and achieve progress.

Today we had a very detailed discussion on issues of cooperation in the energy sector. We are very pleased that specific steps are being taken here. We have moved from intent and statement to specific work and we see its results first of all in the growing turnover of trade. Azerbaijani oil is entering Ukraine, and we hope that these positive trends will continue. Our oil company is active in the Ukrainian market and is making investments; we have great plans for investment projects. I am sure that these projects will be mutually beneficial.

We also pin great hopes on cooperation in the transport sector, and the transport and infrastructure projects we are implementing in the Caspian and Black Sea regions respectively will not only connect our countries with reliable transport lines, but also create a good environment for regional cooperation in the Caspian-Black Sea basin and the Caspian-Black Sea-Baltic region. There is every reason, and sufficient political will, to succeed. These initiatives in the energy, transport and other sectors bring our countries closer together. We are planning to move from cooperation in the oil sphere to cooperation in the gas sphere. The relevant document was signed at the beginning of the current year and, in principle, this is a new element of bilateral cooperation which did not exist in previous years. At a time when Azerbaijan is expanding its gas potential and emerging as a major producer and exporter of gas, cooperation between our countries in this area is of special importance. Mutual efforts and political will move these processes forward and, of course, play a decisive role.

Today I informed Viktor Fyodorovych about the state of affairs concerning the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. As you know, this conflict has been going on for decades and has brought great pain and suffering to the Azerbaijani people. One million Azerbaijanis have been ousted from their homes. A policy of ethnic cleansing was carried out against our people, 20 per cent of our territory was occupied and, despite decisions and resolutions by international organizations such as the United Nations – the UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on the occupation – the conflict has still not been resolved. This poses a great threat to regional peace and stability and does not allow programmes involving regional cooperation to be implemented to their fullest potential. Despite the difficulties created by this conflict, Azerbaijan is developing rapidly, its economy is growing and major investment projects are being implemented. Last year alone, 15.5 billion dollars were invested in our country's economy. Most of this is domestic investment. We are actively considering issues concerning investment projects in Ukraine; the financial resources are there and, most importantly, so is the political will for such investment. In other words, it might take some time to enumerate the spheres of cooperation, and I cannot but mention the role of Ukrainians living in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis living in Ukraine in strengthening our relations. Our diasporas are a natural bridge connecting our countries and peoples. I am very pleased that Ukrainians living in Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis living in Ukraine feel comfortable, confident and at home and are living as one family in their states and, at the same time, are actively trying to develop relations between Ukraine and Azerbaijan, as is the case now.

I raise my glass to the Ukrainian president and great friend of Azerbaijan, Viktor Fyodorovych Yanukovych, to the prosperity of Ukraine and in honour of the friendship between the peoples of Ukraine and Azerbaijan.