THE WAY TO THE BEST

Progress (Latin "progressus" - forward motion, success) is a direction of development from low to high, a consistent forward movement for the better.

It was not by chance that the inaugurators of the "Progress" prize chose such a meaningful name for their award, fully demonstrating the consistent advancement of the whole of mankind through thousands of years and the development of individual countries, companies and individuals. 

And it is very symbolic that the inaugurators of the prize, which has been presented since 2007, are the Embassy of the Russia Federation in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani-Russian Chamber of Business Cooperation and the Trade Delegation of the Russian Federation in Azerbaijan. It is not just a realization of the development of society and a company or individual, but also the expansion of political-economic and socio-cultural relations between Azerbaijan and Russia that resonates here.

Russia's ambassador to Azerbaijan, Vladimir Dorokhin, drew attention to precisely this point at a "Progress" awards ceremony for the best participants in Azerbaijani-Russian trade and economic relations in 2013. One of the winners was the Region Plus weekly analytical magazine, which received an award in the category "Objective coverage of Azerbaijani-Russian trade and economic relations". 

"Russian-Azerbaijani relations in the economic sphere took a leap forward in 2013. We have reached an all-time high. According to Russian statistics, trade turnover between Russia and Azerbaijan reached 3.6bn dollars, a growth of 5 per cent. Looking back over the decade, trade turnover between Russia and Azerbaijan has increased 4.7 times.  And in annual terms, this is a growth of 30 per cent," Dorokhin said.

He stressed in particular that this trade turnover has come about exclusively in the non-oil sector, which shows the determination of both sides to diversify their economies.  The strategic objective between the two countries is to bring the volume of mutual trade turnover to 4bn dollars by 2016.

According to the ambassador, work is now underway to draw up a model of cooperation in the sphere of agriculture which could lead to an increase many times over in supplies of agrarian industrial produce.

"Azerbaijan and Russia have well functioning sovereign investment funds. Pooling their efforts could also bring millions of dollars in profit for our countries," Dorokhin pointed out.

He also pointed out that the governments of the two countries, after many years of negotiations, have finally come close to signing an agreement on the protection of capital investments. And this gives prominence to the investment component which is far from reaching its potential. For example, the volume of Russian investments in the Azerbaijani economy has reached 1.8bn dollars, and Azerbaijani investments in Russia are in excess of 1bn dollars. The lack of an agreement on protecting investments was the main obstacle to a growth in mutual investments and when it is signed we can expect a rapid increase in the implementation of investment relations. 

At the recent fifth Azerbaijani-Russian forum on inter-regional cooperation in Qabala, the sides marked out areas and specific mutual projects, including projects  to create a number of logistics centres, the joint production of railway carriages and equipment for oil and gas extraction and transportation. To this end it is planned to use the financial potential of the Azerbaijani State Oil Fund and the Russian National Welfare Fund, as well as the Azerbaijani Investment Company and the Russian Direct Investment Fund.

Besides this, there will be an opportunity soon for Azerbaijan to present its potential in Moscow on a permanent basis. "In a few months time I believe we shall sign an inter-governmental agreement, in accordance with which Azerbaijan will receive for the symbolic amount of one rouble a pavilion at the present VDNKH [Exhibition of Economic Achievements], which will become a centre for the promotion of its economic potential, political image and cultural potential," Russia's ambassador to Azerbaijan stressed.

Therefore, Azerbaijan and Russia are trying to use all possible ways of bringing the level of bilateral cooperation in line with existing potential. And the "Progress" prize emphasizes and symbolizes this in its own special way.

NOMINATIONS FOR THE "PROGRESS" PRIZE FOR 2013

"For introducing state-of-the-art maintenance quality control technology" (an individual prize) - the General Director of Lukoil-Azerbaijan, Eduard Mukhametov

"For contribution to the development of the highway infrastructure in Kazan" - the Azerbaijani Evrascon company

"For contribution to the high-quality inspection of Azerbaijani seagoing vessels" - The Russian Maritime Shipping Register

"For progress in the Russian market of Azerbaijani wine labels" - the Fireland Vineyards company

"For contribution to the development and strengthening of trade and economic relations between Azerbaijan and Russia" - the Azersun-Holding company

"For contribution to the development of inter-cultural relations" - the Azerbaijani public television and radio channel

"For promotion of light industrial output in the Russian market" - the Embawood OJSC

"For the import of medical services to the Azerbaijani market" - the Dobromed Baku Hospital company

"For objective coverage of Azerbaijani-Russian trade and economic relations" - the Region Plus analytic weekly magazine

"For the promotion of Russian agricultural equipment on the Azerbaijani market" - the "Russian Tractor company

"For the formation of a single information space" - the Interfax-Azerbaijan agency

"For the organization and staging of business seminars" - the Park Inn Hotel

Three more "Progress" prizes in the nomination "For contribution to the development of cultural relations between Russia and Azerbaijan" were received by Merited Artistes of Azerbaijan Tunzala Agayeva, Lala Mammadova and Zaur Amiraslanov

The general sponsor of the "Progress" prize is the ISR Holding company, and the other sponsors are Lukoil-Azerbaijan and Evrascon