Azerbaijan expands its partnership with Russia and decides to join BRICS.

Azerbaijan’s state oil company Socar and Russia’s Gazprom have agreed to expand their strategic partnership, the Russian gas monopolist said in a statement. In September, the parties will sign a comprehensive scientific and technical cooperation agreement for the North-South project. “An agreement was reached on expanding a multi-faceted strategic partnership,” said the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller. It should be noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a two-day state visit to Azerbaijan on August 18. He held talks with the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, and signed several joint documents. Moreover, Azerbaijan has also officially applied to join the BRICS bloc of developing economies. The group includes Russia, Brazil, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and UAE. As a reminder, the Socar representative office in Ukraine was opened in 2008. The company’s network operates 57 gas stations in Ukraine.