Ismayilli Eltun Riayyat,
Graduate student, “Maritime and Energy Law” specialty, “International Civil Law” department, BSU
E-mail: [email protected]
After the collapse of the USSR, three independent states began to divide the area of the Caspian Sea. In accordance with the principle of the succession of states in international law, the question arose about the succession of the legal system by new countries, the rights and duties of the Soviet Union and Iran in accordance with the new realities after the collapse of the USSR. After the collapse of the USSR, the independent republics of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan insisted on the division of the Caspian Sea and expressed their opposition to the succession of agreements concluded between Iran and Russia due to the abundance of oil and gas reserves on their shores. Russia’s approach was based on two fundamental points. The Caspian Sea is a unique inland water basin and cannot be considered a sea from an international point of view. Case law should be applied here. Although the Caspian Sea has the geographical characteristics of a sea (its water is salty; the dimensions of the Caspian Sea are almost the same as those of the Black and other seas), it cannot be considered a sea because it is closed and has no natural connection. with the ocean of the world. In this regard, the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (signed in December 1982, entered into force on November 16, 1994) is not applicable, as this document regulates the legal regime of the maritime space. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation has repeatedly stated that the Caspian Sea is a reservoir, and its waters and underground resources are the common property of the Caspian littoral states [30, p. 78].
DOI: 10.30546/2218-9130. 02.352.2024.33