Epress.am News from Armenia
During Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s September visit to Baku, Russia and Azerbaijan will sign a treaty on mutual protection and promotion of investments. Azadliq (RFE/RL Azerbaijan) comments on the significance of such an agreement.
According to Azadliq, the only people who have investments in the Russian economy in Azerbaijan are individual business owners who are intimately tied to the ruling elite. It follows then that such a treaty stems from the interests of the two countries’ upper classes. Basically, Russia, who once again displayed its military assistance to Armenia, assists Azerbaijan only in the economic sector, reports Azadliq.
Speaking with Azadliq, Azerbaijan Popular Front Party Deputy Chair Noureddine Mammadli said that Medvedev’s visit to Baku, which will take place after the Russian leader’s visit to Armenia, aims to show that Russia is adopting a “balanced policy” when it comes to the two conflicting countries. However, in the politician’s opinion, that’s not the case.
“The contract signed in Yerevan is aimed at preventing the liberation of Azerbaijan’s territories,” said the politician.
Mammadli also turned his attention to Russia’s C-300 sale to Azerbaijan, stating that they need to purchase offensive and not defensive arms in order to “free the territories.”
As for the mutual protection of investments treaty, in Mammadli’s opinion, “oligarch groups, who have monopolized Azerbaijan’s economy, are attempting to take their capital out of the country and invest it in other countries.”
“Currently, a legal basis is necessary for them to protect their own capital abroad, which is why an agreement with Russia on protecting investments is planned,” said Mammadli.