Russian Vice Premier embarks on working trip to Baku

Russia's Vice Premier Viktor Khristenko is about to embark on a one-day working trip to Baku.

Asked by RIA Novosti about the purpose of his visit, Khristenko said he had to complete technical procedures dealing with the division of the Caspian Sea floor with the purpose of using its mineral resources.

Khristenko hopes he will be able to discuss this and other issues related to bilateral cooperation with Azerbaijani President Geidar Aliyev. He is also expected to hold negotiations with Azerbaijan's 1st Vice Premier Abbas Abbasov.

On April 10, 2002, an intergovernmental commission co-chaired by Khristenko and Abbasov gathered for a session in Baku to prepare, as the Russian vice premier put it, "the basis for an agreement on division of the Caspian Sea floor with the purpose of using its mineral resources" and to sign a protocol specifying the technical parameters necessary for dividing the sea floor.

On the eve of his visit to Baku, the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan discussed bilateral cooperation by telephone.