The Russian economy is becoming stronger under the influence of sanctions, as the country focuses more on its own strength, on developing relations with close partners, Stanislav Tkachenko, professor of the Department of European Studies at St. Petersburg State University (St. Petersburg State University), said on the sidelines of the V meeting of the Russian-Azerbaijani Expert Council (RAEC).
According to the expert, under the conditions of sanctions, Azerbaijan turned out to be a close ally of the Russian Federation, confirming its status as a privileged strategic economic partner.
“In this sense, sanctions are now an additional driver for the development of Russian-Azerbaijani economic relations in such an area as industrial cooperation. There are several projects in this area that are being implemented in Azerbaijan, including in the Karabakh economic Region, with the participation of Russian investments,” Tkachenko told Sputnik Azerbaijan.
In addition, the expert noted, cooperation in the transport and logistics sector between Baku and Moscow is booming precisely because sanctions have limited Russia’s ability to transport goods in the western direction.
“There is a need to transport in the southern direction, and in this sense, the international transport corridor North-South is very useful,” Tkachenko said.
Agricultural processing and nuclear energy
According to Inna Andronova, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Head of the Department of International Economic Relations of the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN), a promising area of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia is primarily the processing of agricultural products, because Baku and Moscow are the largest partners in the field of trade in non-primary goods.
“The most important area of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation is also pharmaceuticals – here the partnership will be established not only with the Russian Federation, but also with other countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), in particular with Belarus. Partnership in this area will ensure both the Russian Federation and Azerbaijan independence from the supply of medicines, which is very important today,” Andronova said in an interview with Sputnik Azerbaijan.
In addition, the expert noted, it is important to develop joint production of agricultural machinery – today Azerbaijan is implementing projects in this area with Belarus, but it is important to establish cooperation with the Russian Federation.
At the same time, according to the interlocutor, the development of nuclear energy is also important for Azerbaijan in cooperation with Russia.
“Because solar and wind energy alone are not enough for the industrial development of the country. No solar or wind power plant will launch or provide an industrial enterprise,” Andronova believes.
In addition, she added, the environmental effect of SES and WPP is much more serious than from a nuclear power plant, which alone can cover all the needs of Azerbaijan and even make it an exporter of electricity produced at nuclear power plants.
“Even before the collapse of the USSR, there was a project to build a nuclear power plant in Azerbaijan, and I believe that we need to return to this project,” Andronova added.
