Azerbaijani President holds videoconference meeting with Bulgarian counterpart UPDATED

14:05

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has met with the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev in the format of a video conference.

The reason for holding the meeting in the format of a video conference is that the members of Bulgaria’s delegation tested positive for COVID-19, Azertag reports.

Welcoming the President of Bulgaria, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said:

- Welcome, Mr. President. It is very nice to see you in Baku. I hope you enjoy your participation in the Forum.

First of all, thank you for attending this important event. Your personal participation raises the level of the Global Baku Forum, and I am sure that you will make an important contribution to the potential of this international event. I also remember with pleasure our meetings in Sofia – during my official visit last year and at the opening ceremony of the interconnector. Since then, things have been progressing successfully and we are seeing very tangible results of our strategic cooperation. Welcome again!

President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev said:

- Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you for your invitation and sincere hospitality. Thank you again for deepening our relationship. I am delighted that it is not only about energy. Your visit to Sofia was a turning point for developing other very important areas of our cooperation. Let us start with energy. As you know, everything has been working perfectly and without any problems since the first day when the Gas Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria was put into operation. We are happy to be buying gas from Azerbaijan. You know we are ready to go further. You are aware of our Solidarity Ring initiative. But, of course, the key point is Azerbaijan. We are ready to transport additional volumes of Azerbaijani gas by combining the capabilities and efforts of the gas pipeline operators of Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. From now on, the decision is up to you. Let me inform you that on February 1, together with President Vucic, we launched the interconnector between Bulgaria and Serbia. So you can see that opportunities are increasing almost every month. We are pleased to work with you as a strategic partner and ally in this very important area, ensuring diversification and security of supplies. It is not only about that. Thank you again for keeping your promise and opening SOCAR's office in Sofia. I look forward to attending the opening ceremony in May. This will be a very good step forward indeed.

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Issues related to cooperation in energy, transport, gas supply, agriculture and other fields were discussed at the meeting.

The sides acknowledged Azerbaijan's contribution to European energy security and touched upon the issue of the construction of a new gas connector in Europe. The presidents also emphasized the importance of the first Green Energy Advisory Council Ministerial Meeting held in Baku last month and noted that Azerbaijan had become an important country supplying green energy to Europe.

During the conversation, they exchanged views on the issue of cooperation in the field of transport and increasing the volume of transit cargo from Bulgaria via Azerbaijan to Central Asian countries.

President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev invited the President of Azerbaijan to pay an official visit to his country. The invitation was gratefully accepted.

11:38

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev held a videoconference meeting with the President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev on March 11.

The reason for holding the videoconference meeting was a positive test result for COVID-19 among members of the Bulgarian delegation, Caliber.Az reports citing the information posted on the Azerbaijani official presidential website.