Experts from five Caspian states - Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan - are discussing security issues in Azerbaijan's capital Baku. The Russian delegation is headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.
The draft agreement to guarantee security in the Caspian Sea area was provided by Azerbaijan in September 2008 and in October last year it was considered in the first reading and approved as a pilot framework agreement in Baku. Russia came up with a number of initiatives calling for information exchange centers and cooperation in ensuring security of the Caspian countries on a day-to-day basis. In the course of the current consultations experts are busy devising a five-party agreement on cooperation between interior, border and customs services. According to the chief of the Central Asia department at the Institute of CIS Countries Andrei Grozin, the parties concerned have yet a lot to discuss before they produce a final decision:
"Representatives of the five Caspian countries are discussing the technicalities at the moment, he says. For now they have nearly reached agreement on the mutually acceptable status of the Caspian. And they have yet to agree on how to divide the Caspian shelf and bottom and set production quotas".
Talks on the Caspian carve-up have been on for two decades without success. The Caspian Sea is rich in oil and gas and boasts 90 percent of the world's sturgeon stocks. Naturally, each of the Caspian countries pursues its own interests in the region. Russia insists that the bottom should be divided on the median line principle whereas the water area should stay in common use. In 2003 Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan signed an agreement on the partial division of the Caspian Sea along the median line. Not all, however, are happy about the scheme. Iran, for one, will get a mere 13% according to it. Naturally, it wants the bottom to be split among the countries in equal parts: each getting 20%.
In general, Russia is seeking a full-blown Caspian Economic Cooperation Organization. This, however, is obstructed by the differences within the Caspian countries and the influence from the outside. A major geopolitical junction, Caspian is attracting European countries, Turkey and the United States. Political analyst Felix Stanevsky warns that the Caspian resources division process will run into hurdles should these major players step in. Nevertheless, a security agreement, if signed, could bring the signing of a status agreement closer, or at least, will become a dramatic step forward in coordinating the positions of the parties involved.
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