Azerbaijan\'s President Ilham Aliyev met in Baku on 28 November with visiting Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko to discuss ways to expand bilateral economic cooperation. Aliyev expressed the hope that more Russian companies will invest in Azerbaijan. In talks with Azerbaijan State Oil Company head Natik Aliyev (no relation to the president), Khristenko proposed revising the 1996 agreement under which Azerbaijan pledged to export 5 million tons of oil via the Baku-Tikhoretsk-Novorossiisk pipeline beginning in 2002. Aliyev said increasing exports from the present 2.5 million tons annually would not be advantageous due to the high tariffs ($15.67 per metric ton) and the fact that high-quality Azerbaijani crude is degraded by being transported by the same pipeline that is used for inferior-quality Urals crude. Khristenko and Azerbajani First Deputy Prime Minister Abbas Abbasov signed a memorandum on 28 November on cooperation in space. (Turan)