Azerbaijani and Russian scientists have signed an agreement on cooperation in the study of the Caspian Sea. The corresponding agreement on cooperation in the field of Caspian research was signed on Wednesday in Moscow within the framework of the International Assembly of the Caspian Dialogue.
The parties intend to strengthen cooperation between the interested organizations of Russia, Azerbaijan and other countries of the Caspian region for the development of international cooperation in the field of science, technology, innovation and education, joint research, climate change and the study of the Caspian Sea, environmental monitoring in the water area. They also expressed their readiness to assist each other in organizing and conducting environmental and business missions, to exchange information, references and analytical materials. However, the document states that "each party may terminate the agreement by giving the other party at least 30 days' written notice prior to termination." This decision will not affect previously planned activities.
The document was signed by Viktor Kalyujny, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Caspian Council for Science and Innovation, Vladimir Shuin, the President of the Caspian Association for the Support of Technology Development and Scientific Cooperation in the Caspian Sea and Zaur Imrani, the Doctor of Philology in geography, Associate Professor, who represented the Director General of the Institute of Geography of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan.
In this regard, Zaur Imrani gave an interview to the leading Russian telegraph agency TASS. He said that Ashgabat and Baku have been considering the possibility of laying a gas pipeline from the coast of Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan through the Caspian Sea for a long time. The frozen project for the construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline from Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan can be restored with the subsequent transit of energy resources to Europe.
Ashgabat and Baku have long been considering building a gas pipeline from the coast of Turkmenistan to Azerbaijan across the Caspian Sea. The Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea states that such projects should be agreed only between the countries through whose territorial waters the pipeline will pass.
After the signing of the convention, a number of media outlets reported that the agreement had given the green light to the project.