ON THE FINISH LINE

The foreign ministers of the Caspian states (Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Iran) held a meeting in Moscow. As a result, they announced the completion of almost a twenty-year process on the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea.

The success of negotiations on the text of this document is a result of consistent and constructive approach of all the stakeholders. "We have found solutions to all the remaining major issues related to the preparation of this document. The text of the Convention is actually ready. In the near future, it will be edited and finalised, and translated into the national languages of the signatories, and each of the countries will perform the domestic procedure preparing it for signing at the top level," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The signing of the convention is planned at the 5^th Caspian Summit in Kazakhstan in the first half of 2018.

A special agreement will be a basis for the establishment of a solid system of confidence-building in the region. According to Lavrov, the project is in the "advanced stage". This is a document on the prevention of incidents in the Caspian Sea. It is also planned to be presented at the summit in Kazakhstan. Another important document is the framework Tehran Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea. "We noted the five countries’ readiness to adopt the Protocol on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (EIA) to the Tehran Convention as soon as possible". It is announced that a five-sided moratorium on the catch of sturgeon species has been extended. The coordination of rescue services of the five littoral states is also improving.

The participants of the Moscow meeting agreed "to continue to vigorously promote the implementation of new promising joint projects", to prepare protocols on the cooperation of the law enforcement agencies of the littoral states in anti-poaching operations, counter-terrorism, and combat operations against the organised crime. The Caspian Five is also improving cooperation in defence sector. In the current year, almost all coastal states exchanged friendly visits of navy ships. In the next year, it is planned to hold joint marine exercises.

However, in order not to have a false impression on the uninformed readers about the significance of the achieved results, it is worth making a short retrospective journey into the history of the problem.

The issue of the legal status of the Caspian Sea has become relevant after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the establishment of new independent states. There were different approaches to the division of the water area of ​​the sea. Its size and lack of communication with the World Ocean prevented the division of the sea into the 200-mile economic zones. It was necessary not only to adapt international practice to the realities of the Caspian but also to search for individual solutions. The most challenging issue was the delimitation of the economic interests of countries on the sea shelf. According to international practice, the definition of national sectors along the midline between the shores of the opposite countries looked adequate. However, Iran categorically objected to this, as it would get the smallest sector (13-14%) urging the country to operate poor oil and gas reserves in deep waters. Tehran made a proposal for equal 20 percent sectors, which did not correspond to the length of the coastline and was unacceptable for other Caspian countries.

The subsequent negotiations were very difficult. To accelerate the process, an ad hoc working group was established in 1996, which involved deputy foreign ministers of the littoral states. The group has conducted 49 rounds of negotiations to prepare the draft of the convention on the status of the Caspian. In total, there were seven meetings at the level of the foreign ministers and four summits at the highest level with the participation of presidents.

In parallel, bilateral negotiations were held to align the positions. As a result, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan managed to prepare a trilateral agreement on the Caspian Sea based on the principle of the "median line delimitation". On July 6, 1998, Russia and Kazakhstan concluded an agreement on the Delimitation of the Seabed of the Northern Part of the Caspian Sea for the Purposes of Exercising Their Sovereign Rights to the Exploitation of its Subsoil. In accordance with this agreement, "the seabed of the northern part of the Caspian Sea and its subsoil are delimited between the parties along the median line modified on the basis of the principle of fairness and agreement of the parties provided that the common surface of the sea is retained for the common use…" The modified median line was defined "on the basis of an equal distance from the agreed baselines... taking into account the islands, geological structures", etc.

On January 9, 2001, Russia and Azerbaijan signed the Baku Declaration, and adopted a joint statement on the principles of cooperation in the Caspian Sea. Both documents confirm that the seabed of the Caspian Sea is divided into subsoil zones between the littoral states, while the waters and the sea surface remain in common use. Also, the states agreed that "the seabed shall be divided into zones or sectors on the basis of a median line taking into account the equidistant points and modified by the agreement of the concerned parties." At the same time, the parties may exercise their exclusive right concerning the mineral resources and any other economic activity on the seabed within the boundaries of their sectors.

The signing of a bilateral agreement between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan on the delimitation of the Caspian seabed was yet another milestone of the negotiations. The parties agreed that the Caspian seabed should be delimited along the median line equidistant from the initial points, the coordinates of which should be determined according to the average multi-year basin level (minus 28 meters). It was also decided that issues relating to the disputed deposits would be considered separately.

Both sides moved forward gradually, consolidating the agreements reached on certain aspects of the problem through bilateral and multilateral talks. Basically, the parties have reached an agreement that the main issues regarding the activities in the Caspian Sea would be decided exclusively by the littoral states. The politically binding declaration was signed on October 16, 2007 by the heads of states after the second summit in Tehran. This principle was also confirmed in the joint statement of the presidents following the results of the third Caspian summit in Baku on November 18, 2010.

At the final fourth presidential summit of the Caspian Five held in Astrakhan in 2014 the parties reached breakthrough agreements. Previously, the presidents have agreed that each of the five countries receive an exclusive right to the sea space within 15 nautical miles from the coastline ("national sovereignty space") and extra 10 nautical miles for the extraction of mineral resources. A separate agreement was concluded on the conservation and rational use of biological resources of the Caspian Sea in line with international legal framework for regulating fishing in the region. The participants of the Astrakhan summit also agreed to preclude the presence of security forces of states not belonging to the five littoral countries in the Caspian Sea. The general terms of the activities of the Caspian states were formulated in the respective joint political statement.

Basically, the draft convention on the status of the Caspian Sea agreed by the foreign ministers in Moscow is a framework document. It defines the principles of cooperation between the Caspian countries, as well as their legal rights, with an equal treatment of all littoral countries. At the next stage, the convention will go through internal procedures of each state, including the technical details. It is expected that the document will be signed at the upcoming presidential summit in Kazakhstan next year.

The details of the Convention have not yet been disclosed. It is known only that the sectoral principle of division will be used. According to Khalaf Khalafov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, "the boundaries of the water zone are defined as follows: 15 miles on the surface, 10 miles for fishing. The remaining part was determined for the general use of ships and other purposes." He explained that the seabed is entirely divided to sectors among the neighbouring and opposing countries. "Negotiations on disputable deposits are not yet effective, so we do not talk about it. The main issue is delimitation with Iran and Turkmenistan. The issue of the development and operation of the fields will be solved later according to international law through bilateral negotiations with Turkmenistan and Iran," said Khalafov.

According to the deputy minister, the draft convention reflects the right of countries to use commercial and military ships in the Caspian Sea, as well as to access the World Ocean and other seas and the right to return. He also noted that the convention will be for an indefinite term. As for the construction of pipelines on the seabed, this issue will be specifically agreed between the countries, which sectors are crossed by the pipelines.

The Moscow meeting of the ministers of the Caspian Five and the agreement reached in this meeting is an event of extreme importance confirming the successful conclusion of many years of diplomatic efforts. Its signing by the heads of states at the forthcoming summit in Astana in 2018 will help to reduce differences and expand the scope of nature management and cooperation in the Caspian. The fact that the text of the convention is not in public domain yet indicates that some inconsistencies remain. But it is important to bring the process to its logical conclusion and go ahead. Previous experiences show that with goodwill and mutual interest, it is possible to make the Caspian Sea a sea of ​​peace and cooperation.

FOR REFERENCE:

The Caspian Sea is the largest landlocked water reservoir. Its length is 1,160 km, and its width is 330 km. The area of ​​the sea exceeds 42,914 square kilometres. The shoreline is over 6,400 km and shared by five littoral states: Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran. The Caspian is rich in fish and known for its unique sturgeon species and black caviar. But the main wealth of the Caspian is its oil and gas reserves. The proven hydrocarbon resources of its subsoil reach 18-20 billion tons.