Several new projects in the agro-industrial sector were also announced, including the construction of dairy and meat farms around a future agro-town in the Aghdam region and a fertilizer production plant.
All these projects will be refined during the upcoming meeting of the intergovernmental commission in Minsk and the meetings in Baku on the sidelines of COP 29.
Special Relationship
The coherence (i.e., the presence of mutual alignments) in the policies of Baku and Minsk, as well as the personal friendship between Ilham Aliyev and Alexander Lukashenko, has been confirmed repeatedly over a long period.
Military Support
For decades, Belarus has been one of the main and significant suppliers of weapons to Azerbaijan. In an interview with Parisian “Le Figaro” in October 2020, President Ilham Aliyev particularly highlighted Minsk’s contribution to equipping the Azerbaijani army, specifically mentioning the supply of Polonez multiple launch rocket systems.
Political Support
Despite Armenia and Belarus being members of the same security agreement (CSTO), President Lukashenko has always critically viewed the necessity of supporting Armenia in its conflict with Azerbaijan.
Role of Mediator
Alexander Lukashenko, always prioritizing close cooperation with Azerbaijan, periodically acted as a mediator in behind-the-scenes negotiations with the Armenian leadership and sometimes directly supported Azerbaijan’s legitimate demands for the recognition of Azerbaijani jurisdiction over occupied territories.
In December 2016, at the request of the Azerbaijani authorities, Belarus arrested and then extradited to Baku the provocateur blogger Alexander Lapshin, who had publicly visited Karabakh in 2011 and 2012 without Azerbaijani permission.
Today, these historical events are in the past, but they were significant victories for Azerbaijani diplomacy, made possible with the support of the President of Belarus.
Thus, it was no surprise that the extensive agenda of Alexander Lukashenko’s official visit to Azerbaijan included almost 14 hours of joint work with President Ilham Aliyev and work with government groups.
It is important to note that for the first time, a foreign leader, besides Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, inspected the revived cities of Fizuli and Shusha in detail.
Lukashenko’s statement to Aliyev, “Time has chosen you, as we say, and you are responsible for the Caucasus region as its leader,” naturally stems from the nature of the relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Belarus.
Strengthening Alliances
Interestingly, these relations strengthen the connection between Russia and Turkey, creating a paired orbit of two interstate Unions – Russia and Belarus, and the Turkic Union represented by Azerbaijan and Turkey.
Current Parameters and Prospects of Economic Cooperation
Azerbaijan continues to skillfully gather a group of allies and industrial-trade partners around itself, forming its own orbit of regional integration, fitting into the interaction system of major Eurasian centers between China, Russia, Turkey, the European Union, and Arab countries.
In numerical terms, the trade parameters between Belarus and Azerbaijan are not so impressive but create a substantial platform for further scaling of mutual projects. The current bilateral trade turnover reaches $450 million per year.
President Lukashenko plans to double this figure in two steps: first, to bring the turnover to a stable base of $500 million, and then, within a year and a half, to reach the $1 billion mark.
“We will do everything for this,” emphasized the President of Belarus. “If we, for example, buy a product in unfriendly countries that is produced here in Azerbaijan, we should, without hesitation (given the current moment), refuse it and buy it here. Similarly, Azerbaijan will meet us halfway.”
Joint Ventures
The parties are working on creating a joint elevator production and opening a service center for Belarusian equipment (which may also be exported to Russia, where there is a shortage of elevator equipment). Additionally, the possibility of supplying Belarusian electric buses to Azerbaijan is being discussed.
A new exchange trading instrument has actively started functioning. According to the Belarusian Universal Commodity Exchange (BUCE), the total transactions concluded by Azerbaijani companies in January-April reached $38 million, which is 14.5 times more than for the same period in 2023. The significant growth in BUCE trade turnover by Azerbaijani users is due to a notable increase in the supply of Belarusian wood and sawn timber to Azerbaijan.
Agricultural-Industrial Union
During the Belarusian delegation’s visit, Presidents Lukashenko and Aliyev visited the Baku Expo Center, where the Caspian Agro and XXIX InterFood Azerbaijan exhibitions were held. About 40 Belarusian companies, including Gomselmash, Brest Meat and Dairy Industry Group, Slutsk Cheese Factory, Minsk Dairy Plant, Grodno, Volkovysk, and Mogilev meat-packing plants, and brands Santa Bremor, Savushkin, and Brest-Litovsk, presented their products.
Agricultural-Industrial Cooperation
There is potential to scale Belarusian dairy exports to other countries by combining Belarusian expertise and technology with Azerbaijani land, climate, and transport resources. Following Lukashenko’s visit to Baku, Belarus and Azerbaijan may create a local “agricultural-food Union” aimed primarily at markets in Russia, China, and Arab countries.
Fertilizer Production
A promising perspective opens up in the fertilizer segment, essential for any agro-industrial technology. One of the discussed topics between Lukashenko and Aliyev is the expansion of Belarusian product flows through the North-South transport corridor. Azerbaijan can provide two main export directions: by rail through the Russian Samur crossing to Georgian ports, and via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars route to the Turkish port of Iskenderun, or through Iranian routes from Astara to the Persian Gulf port of Bandar Abbas.
If we look at the distribution of Belarusian potassium exports in 2023, the southern “Eurasian” gates are practically inactive. With the opening of new North-South and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars corridors, the potential for container transit of Belarusian goods will significantly increase.
To date, the main directions for Belarusian potassium exports are the terminals of St. Petersburg ports – 6.647 million tons (70.3% of exports), container trains to China – 1.623 million tons (17.2%), Black Sea ports – 650 thousand tons (6.9%), to Russian consumers – 273 thousand tons (2.9%), Azov Sea ports – 144 thousand tons (1.5%), Barents Sea ports – 74 thousand tons (0.8%), Caspian Sea ports – 38 thousand tons (0.4%), and to consumers in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan – 2.6 thousand tons (0.03%).
A new solution expanding Belarus’s influence on the global fertilizer market concerns the production of nitrogen fertilizers. An interesting project that can increase Azerbaijan’s export potential is the organization of joint fertilizer production in Azerbaijan through the purchase of Russian gas. Nitrogen fertilizer production is based on obtaining synthetic ammonia from molecular nitrogen and hydrogen. Nitrogen is formed when air passes through a generator with burning coke. Sources of hydrogen include natural gas, petroleum gas, or coke gas.
The option of using Russian gas will not affect Baku’s obligations related to gas supplies to the European Union.
Innovative agricultural technologies that Azerbaijan can attract through its European partners, combined with the experience of Belarusian livestock, poultry, feed, and fertilizer producers, will be enhanced by the influence of Azerbaijani crop, fruit, and vegetable producers.
In total, this can create a very strong trade-industrial agglomeration in the South Caucasus and Caspian regions, strengthened by the growth of export potential beyond the region.
Ilgar Huseynov
Translated from haqqin.az
