Azernews.Az

By Narmina Mammadova

Azerbaijan and Ukraine enjoy sustainable prospects of bilateral relations in political, economic, energy, transport and humanitarian fields.

Azerbaijan is considered one of the main trade partners of Ukraine among the CIS countries.

Ukraine is in the second place after Russia in terms of trade partners of Azerbaijan in the post-Soviet space.

But both countries do not stop at what has been accomplished and deepen the already well-established economic cooperation.

Azerbaijan's Ambassador to Ukraine Azer Khudiyev talked on this issue in an interview with Ukraine's Channel 5 on January 7.

Increasing trade turnover is one of the priorities of the Azerbaijan-Ukraine relations, he said.

The ambassador noted that since 2012, the trade turnover between the two countries has declined significantly, although until 2012 it was approximately $1.5 billion.

"From 2016 to 2017, we increased turnover 2.5 times," he said, adding that to date the bilateral trade has exceeded $800 million, though it was $300 million until 2016.

"Azerbaijan and Ukraine are strategic partners. This strategic partnership relies on a high level political dialogue between the heads of our countries, as well as on a big economic potential and a very high level of humanitarian and cultural ties traditionally existing between our countries," Khudiyev said.

According to the Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee, Azerbaijan's trade turnover with Ukraine amounted to $810.28 million in 2017. In January-November 2018, the turnover amounted to $725.8 million, of which about $414.5 million accounted for Azerbaijan's imports of Ukrainian products.

Recently, Azerbaijan and Ukraine have been engaged in active developments of economic cooperation. In June of this year, the first Trade House of Azerbaijan was opened in Kiev, analogous houses are planned to open in other cities of the country.

Direct investments from Ukraine to Azerbaijan exceed $25 million, and from Azerbaijan to Ukraine - $200 million.

There are wide export opportunities of Ukraine, which is rich by nature, to enter the Azerbaijani market.

Main goods imported from Ukraine to Azerbaijan are meat, dairy and confectionery products, construction stones, medicines and etc., while Ukraine mainly buys oil and oil products from Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, the main goods exported from Azerbaijan to Ukraine are products of fuel energy industry, chemical industry products, and agro-industrial products.

Azerbaijani oil amounted to $ 376.877 million of the total $ 442.219 million worth oil imported by Ukraine in 2017. In January-November 2018 Azerbaijan exported crude oil worth $376.337 to Ukraine.

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