ALMATY, Kazakhstan, June 25. Bishkek is holding talks with Baku on increasing supplies of crude oil and petroleum products from Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan’s Minister of Economy and Commerce Bakyt Sydykov told Trend on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting and Business Forum of the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) in Almaty.
“Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan are holding talks on increasing supplies of crude oil and petroleum products. This is a relatively new initiative for both Azerbaijan and the Kyrgyz Republic, so it requires further elaboration. Overall, there is mutual readiness and a shared understanding on this issue,” he said.
According to him, the supply volumes are yet to be agreed, as Kyrgyzstan has certain demand levels while Azerbaijan has corresponding export capacity.
“It is necessary to find an optimal balance between demand and supply volumes,” Sydykov noted.
He also said that plans are underway to increase the capital of the Azerbaijan-Kyrgyz Development Fund to $100 million.
“A pool of projects has already been formed. Some are at the stage of preliminary approval and initial project proposal review. In addition, a number of projects have already passed the preliminary selection stage,” he said.
Sydykov added that Kyrgyzstan is interested in participating in the development of the Middle Corridor, particularly through the China–Kyrgyzstan–Uzbekistan railway project.
