By Dr. Vugar Bayramov, Member of the Parliament of Azerbaijan
The resolution of the French Senate, which envisages the imposition of sanctions against Azerbaijan, is a manifestation of double standards and raises an important question: which side will lose more economically from the aggravation of relations?
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and France in 2022 was $274.0 million. Of this, $222.8 million was the import from France. In the first 11 months of 2023, a turnover of $514.2 million was recorded. That is, a sharp increase in the trade turnover between the countries was observed last year. $382.3 million of this was the import from France. In other words, French companies directly earned nearly $400.0 million in foreign currency in 2023 thanks to trade with Azerbaijan. A negative balance of $250.2 million was recorded in our trade turnover.
As for the list of goods that Azerbaijan has imported from France mainly followings; pharmaceuticals worth $40.9 million, tractors worth $9.2 million, lubricants worth $3.4 million, butter, other dairy oils and pastes worth $2.3 million, natural oils worth $1.2 million. grape wines and grape juice etc. have a special share. Azerbaijan sent strategic products to France.
The structure of our import and export with France shows that Azerbaijan will be able to replace the products it imports from this country from alternative sources in a short time if the relations between the two countries will become more strained. The strained relations will mean an annual loss of $400 million for French companies. Since Azerbaijan’s exports to France are strategic products, there are quite a lot of alternative markets for those products.
Along with all this economic analysis, let’s not forget that the latest resolution of the French Senate is nothing but paper. This step cannot impact the order in the Caucasus.
