On October 23, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev met with Rustam Minnikhanov, the Rais of the Republic of Tatarstan of the Russian Federation, in Kazan.

Welcoming the President of Azerbaijan, Rustam Minnikhanov said:

- Taking this opportunity, Ilham Heydarovich, I would like to thank you for the attention you are paying to our Republic within the context of Russian-Azerbaijani relations. We appreciate it very much, and, of course, we are proud that such a state visit by our President has taken place. It was covered very extensively. You have recently congratulated our leader. There are a lot of business matters on the agenda. This BRICS meeting was entrusted to us, and the fact that you have found the time to come here is a great honor. If I may, there are some issues we would like to report on, the developments we are working on with our colleagues.

President Ilham Aliyev said:

- Thank you, Rustam Nurgaliyevich. I am delighted to visit your brotherly land once again. First of all, I would like to congratulate you and all the people of the Republic of Tatarstan on this significant event – the hosting of the BRICS Summit and BRICS+ in Tatarstan. This is a sign of the special attention of the leadership of the Russian Federation to the Republic, to you personally, to the people of Tatarstan, and also an indicator of the potential that Tatarstan has achieved under your leadership, because hosting such a large-scale event requires, of course, the availability of resources, infrastructure, including hotel infrastructure, for holding events and bilateral meetings of heads of state. Therefore, I sincerely congratulate you in advance. I am sure that everything will be held at the highest level.

Of course, relations between Tatarstan and Azerbaijan are an important part of interstate relations between the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan. As you mentioned, the President of the Russian Federation paid a state visit to Azerbaijan in August this year. We have also met since then. So the dynamics of bilateral relations are very impressive, including in the bilateral Tatarstan-Azerbaijan format. So we will discuss that today. Our colleagues have also come prepared for our meeting. I think we will see good results in the near future. Taking this opportunity, I would like to congratulate you once again and invite you to visit Azerbaijan at a time convenient for you.

Rais Rustam Minnikhanov: Thank you. We had the opportunity to assess everything from both a business and a tourism perspective. Of course, we were very impressed with such world-class complexes. Not to mention Baku. Baku is an example for us, a place where we derive experience in how to organize work. The tourist and ski center we visited left a strong impression. Thank you very much.

President Ilham Aliyev: Come again! Do come, the season is just beginning. It has already snowed, by the way. The first snow has fallen.

Rais Rustam Minnikhanov: So, we are your fans.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you. Such a surprise! I only found out on the plane. Thank you!

The Decree on awarding the President of Azerbaijan with the highest state award of Tatarstan was read out: “President Ilham Aliyev has been was awarded the Duslyk (Freindship) Order by the Decree of the Rais of the Republic of Tatarstan in recognition of his significant contribution to the development of cooperation between the Republic of Tatarstan and the Republic of Azerbaijan, and for strengthening friendship and mutual understanding between peoples.”

Rais Rustam Minnikhanov: There is a company called “Sollers”.

President Ilham Aliyev: We know.

Rais Rustam Minnikhanov: There is a good man there, whom we brought up. We asked him to hand over these cars where they are most needed.

President Ilham Aliyev: Thank you very much. Thank you, Rustam Nurgaliyevich, for this high award. It is truly a huge surprise for me. I found out about it when I was already on the plane to Kazan. It is a great honor to receive a high order from the Republic of Tatarstan. Let me thank you again on behalf of all Azerbaijani people and myself. While on the plane, I was just recalling your last visit to Azerbaijan and Baku, when you participated in the Sabantuy holiday together with the Tatar community of Azerbaijan in Jabrayil and Zangilan. And thank you for the gift. We will send it specifically to the regions you visited, Zangilan and Jabrayil, where they are most needed. Thank you once again for this award.