OREANDA-NEWS. September 8, 2011.  The governor of Astrakhan Region of Russia, Alexander Zhilkin, who is visiting Baku currently, has made a range of loud statements.

At today’s presentation of Region’s trade and economic opportunities Zhilkin has claimed that they propose Azerbaijan to use the territory of Astrakhan Region for penetration and development of Azerbaijani business interests in the Single Economic Space of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia to take effect from 1 January 2012.

"Yesterday, such a proposal was made to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev," Zhilkin said.

Today, he signed with Azerbaijani Prime Minister Artur Rasizade a 5-year agreement on trade-economic, scientific-technical and cultural cooperation.

"Azerbaijan is a strategic partner for our Region. In particular, we’ll implement joint projects of hydrocarbon raw material production in the Caspian Sea," Zhilkin said.