Russian-flagged ships are discriminated against at Baku port, Mr. Olersky says

Russian-flagged ships are subject to discrimination at the seaport of Baku, said Russian Deputy Transport Minister Viktor Olersky, speaking at the meeting of the Russian Govt’s Marine Board in Astrakhan, the PortNews correspondent reported.


"Unfortunately, today the ships under the Russian flag are discriminated against at the port of Baku," Mr. Olersky said, explaining the port dues from ships under the Russian flag exceed 2 times that of charged from local vessels.


"That’s why we insist on the signing of an intergovernmental agreement on maritime transport between Russia and Azerbaijan. The agreement would give our national flag the same conditions as the Azerbaijani flag has," the official said.


Russia has succeeded in cooperation with Azerbaijan on transport issues in the Caspian Sea, Mr. Olersky noted, however, there are still some problems.


"At the end of last year, we attempted to harmonize the next inter-governmental agreement on maritime transport with Azerbaijan, have agreed on almost all of the text. But, unfortunately, we can not accept the position of Azerbaijan on the inclusion of a concept of water area of Azerbaijan, since such a formulation is unacceptable because of ambiguity of the legal status of the Caspian Sea," says Viktor Olersky.
(Source:http://en.portnews.ru)