Azeri Pm Arrives In Moscow

Azeri Prime Minister Artur Tairogly Rasi-Zade will discuss with the Russian authorities preparations for Azeri President Geidar Aliyev's state visit to Moscow. Rasi-Zade arrives on a three-day working visit in Moscow on Monday, January 14. He is heading the governmental delegation. In addition, he is expected to consider the projects of 7 agreements to be signed during Geidar Aliyev's visit to Moscow scheduled for late January. The agreements concern the long-term economic cooperation /till 2010/, the legal status of the Russian citizens in Azerbaijan and the Azeris in Russia, the mutual acknowledgement of property rights and the activity of border representatives. This package of documents is likely to include the agreements on the Russian radar station in Azerbaijan and on the delimitation of the borders between the two countries on the Samur river. Moscow considers it necessary to prolong the validity of the intergovernmental agreement on the transportation of Azeri petroleum via Baku-Novosibirsk pipeline, which will expire in 2002. According to experts, the existing agreements on the transportation of Azeri petroleum via Russian territory and Russian gas in Azerbaijan should be also prolonged.