Azerbaijan, Russia discuss issues of bilateral cooperation in ICT and transport

Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ramin Guluzade met with Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation Konstantin Noskov in Moscow. The sides discussed avenues of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia in the areas of information technologies, post and telecommunications.

They exchanged views on issues of cooperation between the two countries in the field of information security, education in the field of information and communication technologies, development of the concept of "smart" cities, quality control of cellular communication, reduction of prices for international roaming.

The Russian side spoke on the procedure for charging for the use of the radio frequency spectrum, as well as the reforms in the direction of the universal service obligation, which has been implemented in the Russian Federation since 2014 as part of the program to eliminate the digital gap.

Ramin Guluzade expressed the interest of Azerbaijan in the development of bilateral sectoral cooperation, as well as the expansion of relations with Russian companies.

The Minister also noted the importance of organizing joint measures to prevent the illegal activities of the Russian operator MegaFon in the occupied territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Russian side noted that the said company is not carrying out any activity in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, and in this connection official information will be provided to the Azerbaijani Ministry.

The sides also discussed the issues of ensuring the transmission of international traffic entering Azerbaijan into direct channels on a full scale.

At the same time, it was decided to organize regional cooperation in the field of mail and study the issue of reduction of tariffs for international roaming when exchanging international mail traffic between the two countries, conclusion of a cooperation agreement in the field of international postal communication between Azerpost LLC and Post of Russia.

At the end of the meeting, the sides discussed the possibility of participation of Russian companies in the 24th Azerbaijan International Exhibition and Conference Telecommunications, Innovations and High Technologies (Bakutel-2018), which will be held on 4-7 December of the current year in Baku.

At the meeting with Deputy Minister of Transport of the Russian Federation Sergey Aristov, organized during the visit, discussions were held in connection with the issues of the “Road Map” signed this year in Sochi, the development of the North-South transport corridor, as well as issues related to the current status of the construction of the bridge over the Samur river.

The importance of concluding draft agreements in the field of maritime transport between the two countries was underlined at the meeting.

The meetings were also attended by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Russian Federation Polad Bulbuloglu.