The Head of State conversed on the telephone with Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, on the occasion of his 60^th birthday. Rumen Radev conveyed his greetings and expressed the hope for the promotion of bilateral relations, to which President Ilham Aliyev had made a great contribution.

The prospects and opportunities for further development of cooperation between Bulgaria and Azerbaijan, including in the energy sector and natural gas supplies, were also discussed. Radev stressed that Azerbaijan has proved to be a reliable partner in a difficult time of a steep hike of energy prices on the international markets and Bulgaria highly values the bilateral partnership.

The President renewed his invitation to President Ilham Aliyev to visit Bulgaria at his convenience next year.