Speaking to students and professors of Slavic University of Baku on Friday, Victor Yushchenko said his talks with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan had resulted in the decision to create a special group that would consider ways to transport gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe via the Caucasus and Ukraine, according to the President’s press-office.
“This is an interesting project, and we agreed on some of its principles,” he said.
Mr. Yushchenko added that a Presidential Council they had decided to establish yesterday would deal with the most important bilateral projects, among them the construction of the Odessa-Brody-Gdansk oil pipeline and joint exploration of oil fields.
The Head of State also said the recent free trade agreement between Ukraine and Azerbaijan helped boost the local economies. He suggested that it was important to unify trade and tariff policies as another step in the development of cooperation between the two countries and told the audience Ukraine and Azerbaijan had signed six agreements yesterday.
Summing up results of his visit, Mr. Yushchenko said it helped “strengthen trust between the leaders of the two countries and open prospects for future cooperation.”
