Great Britain may provide military aid to Azerbaijan
AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Dec 16 2004
Great Britain may provide military and technical assistance for the
upgrade of the Azerbaijani Army and establishment of various
entities. This was discussed at a Monday meeting of President Ilham
Aliyev with British Minister of Defence Geoffrey Hoon.
Also considered were issues related to Azerbaijan’s integration with
European organizations and the NATO-Azerbaijan Individual Partnership
Plan. Afterwards, Aliyev held meetings at various commissions of the
British parliament.
The President held a meeting at the European Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (EBRD) and delivered a report on the development of
Azerbaijan’s oil sector at the conference entitled “Azerbaijan’s
investment opportunities-2004” on Tuesday.
Aliyev noted that more investments will be made in the non-oil sector
in the future and that the EBRD has invested $80 million in
Azerbaijan this year. The major part of the investments was directed
to the country’s oil sector, he said.
President Aliyev underlined that the Azerbaijani government
guarantees that the rights and capitals of business people, who
intend to invest in Azerbaijan, will be protected. He added that
drawing investments is mainly aimed at improving the living standards
of people. Following the conference, President Aliyev attended the
signing ceremony of an agreement on financing a part of Azerbaijan’s
stake in the Shahdaniz project by the EBRD.
In accordance with the document, the EBRD is expected to allocate a
$170 million loan to Azerbaijan. $110 million of the amount will be
spent on the Shahdaniz project, while the rest on financing
Azerbaijan’s share in the construction of the South Caucasus gas
pipeline.
On the same day, President Aliyev met with British Prime Minister
Tony Blair and Foreign Minister Jack Straw to discuss the Upper
Garabagh conflict and economic relations between the two countries.