Azernews.Az

By Rashid Shirinov

The Caspian littoral countries are expected to find a solution to long-debated, but still undecided, status of the sea.

In the near future, the Caspian littoral countries can come to agreement on the delimitation of the Caspian seabed to develop mineral deposits, believes Igor Bratchikov, the head of the Russian delegation to the multilateral talks on the Caspian sea and Special Ambassador.

The Caspian Sea has always been a significant spot at the border of Europe and Asia, making it the main link between the countries of West and East. The sea is rich in mineral deposits, oil and gas especially. The other wealth of the Caspian Sea are myriads of fish species living there. That’s why it is extremely important for all Caspian littoral states to reach a final decision suitable for all.

Bratchikov recalled that at the Astrakhan summit of 2014, the Caspian countries, namely Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkmenistan admitted that the division of the Caspian seabed is consisted of two sub-issues.

“The first one is the delimitation of the Caspian seabed in order to implement the sovereign rights of the parties to subsoil use,” Bratchikov noted.

The matter is under discussion among the countries in bilateral and trilateral formats. Half of the work has already been done -- there are appropriate agreements among Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, and between Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Bratchikov expressed his hope that the further negotiations will also be accomplished and “the bottom puzzle will be fully assembled”.

The second issue mentioned by the diplomat is the separation of the Caspian water column. In the future, the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea could have waters under the sovereignty of the five parties and also the adjacent sea zone with exclusive rights for fishing. The agreement on establishing such zones will be achieved in the five-sided format.

“The Convention (on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea) will govern their length, method of reference, mode, and the status of the greater part of the water area that remains in common use of the parties. The most important segment of the document will be the Rules of Navigation,” Bratchikov said.

In times of the Soviet Union, the Caspian Sea was the inland water body within the boundaries of the USSR and Iran, controlling the southern bottom of the sea.

After the collapse of the USSR, five countries (Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran) made their claim for the sea waters, the move that triggered a need for a new legal status of the Caspian Sea.

Another problem on dividing the Caspian Sea is now linked to the status of the water body – delineation of seas and lakes is regulated by different provisions of the international law.

In order to develop a Convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea a Special working group at the level of Deputy foreign Ministers of the five states was formed in 1996.

From 1998 to 2003, the Caspian countries signed several agreements on the delimitations of the sea. Framework Convention for Protection of Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea was signed among all five states in November 2003.

On July 7, Maria Zakharova, Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokeswoman, said that the foreign ministers of the Caspian littoral states will discuss the legal status of the Caspian Sea at a meeting in Astana on July 12-13.

“We hope the ministers to reach specific agreements that will be reflected in this document. The basis for compromise solutions is very solid - it is the political Statement containing the principles of conduct for parties to the sea signed by our leaders in Astrakhan,” Bratchikov mentioned. He believes that the finalization of work on the Convention for the summit in Kazakhstan is absolutely real.

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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

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