Briefly in the morning South Caucasus, Turkey and Iran.
Pour coffee, make tea - read the news. Briefly about the main things in the Greater Caucasus.
Yerevan and Baku move to technical issues of normalizing relations. Following the meeting between Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev on November 12 in Dublin, the establishment of working groups on the issue of transboundary rivers was announced. The connection between energy systems, border demarcation and transportation projects were discussed.
The International Monetary Fund raised its economic growth forecast for Georgia for 2026 to 7.2%. Following the November 9-13 mission, the fund expects growth to slow to 5.7% in 2027. Inflation in October reached 5.9% against the target of 3%. International reserves rose to a record $8.2 billion. The International Monetary Fund acknowledges the need to tighten monetary policy and draws attention to the risks of foreign currency loans, including mortgages.
Azerbaijan and the UK established a formal strategic partnership. The announcement, made on November 12, covers defense, security, energy, investment and transportation. Among the priorities is the middle corridor. The document provides for ongoing monitoring of the implementation of the agreements, but of course does not contain approved amounts of new investments.
Eternity-2026 trilateral exercises began in Baku. More than 200 participants from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey practice cooperation in the defense of strategic facilities and transport and energy infrastructure. The exercises began on November 12 and will continue until November 20.
Armenia joined the European customs and fiscals programs. The agreements were signed on November 12 in Brussels. They provide for the modernization of the customs and tax administration, the development of digital services and information exchange. This is a specific direction to bring the institutions of the Armenian state closer to European practices.
Azerbaijan's transportation and warehousing sector grew by 10.2% in ten months of 2026. The data was published on November 13.