The document was initialed by Naftogaz and the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan following the seventh session of the Ukraine-Azerbaijan intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation in Baku. The agreement is expected to be officially signed during Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's visit to the Central Asian country on September 7-8.
Naftogaz board chairman Volodymyr Sheludchenko said at the meeting, "Ukraine and Azerbaijan have a long partnership in the fuel and energy complex. The work of the intergovernmental commission shows that our colleagues from the State Oil Company [of Azerbaijan] are ready to carry out joint projects with us."
The intergovernmental commission also considered the terms and projected volumes of Azerbaijani crude and petroleum product exports to Ukraine for the near future, Naftogaz said.
The two ex-Soviet republics are both members of the GUAM group, along with Georgia and Moldova. The group, widely seen as a counterweight to Russian influence, aims to create a free-trade scheme between its members and ensure cooperation in energy and other areas.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has declared his country's readiness to become an important player on European and global energy markets. A pipeline was recently completed linking the oil-rich country to Turkey. The 1,770 km (1,106-mile) Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan also passes through Georgia.
