Azerbaijan and Belarus agreed to boost economic cooperation between the two former Soviet countries after President Alexander Lukashenko's official visit to Baku.

Azerbaijan increased oil and gas exports in the first quarter of this year, the State Customs Office and State energy firm SOCAR said.

Azerbaijan’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shrank 1.3 percent in the first quarter of 2021 from a year earlier, according to the State Statistics Committee.

Kapital Bank, the oldest and one of the top three commercial banks in Azerbaijan, reported a net profit of 55,535 million manats ($33.7 million) in the first quarter of 2021, 26 percent less compared to the same period in 2020.

Azerbaijan’s leading gold mining company, Anglo Asian Mining Plc, reported a decline in gold production to 11,907 ounces in the first quarter of 2021 from 15,867 ounces in the same period last year.