Azerbaijan said its state oil company SOCAR sent 1,220 metric tons of gasoline to its neighbor and long-time adversary Armenia on Thursday, marking the first such shipment in three decades as the two countries gradually improve relations after years of tensions and war.
The Azerbaijani government said the gasoline was shipped by train from the capital Baku to Boyuk-Kesik near the border with Georgia, across whose territory it will then be delivered to Armenia.
The shipment was agreed last month at talks between the deputy prime ministers of the two South Caucasus countries as part of a drive to expand economic cooperation, said Hikmet Hajiyev, assistant to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and head of foreign policy in his administration.
They also discussed the demarcation of their disputed border, he said.
Azerbaijan and Armenia were locked in conflict for nearly 30 years after Karabakh, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, broke away from Baku’s control in the 1990s and separatists there established de facto independence. In 2023, Azerbaijan retook control over the region, after which the two sides began peace negotiations.
Earlier this year, Azerbaijan also reopened its territory for the transit of goods to Armenia, a route that had been closed since 1997. Since October, two shipments of grain from Kazakhstan and Russia have already crossed Azerbaijan en route to Armenia, with another consignment of Russian grain expected by the end of the year.
