Baku, August 15, AZERTAC

The closing ceremony of the “Sea Cup-2019” international contest, which was held as part of the International Army Games-2019 in Baku, has been held at the Training and Education Center of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan.

The closing ceremony was attended by officials of the ministries of defense of Azerbaijan and Russia, representatives of the participating countries, observers from the Armed Forces of Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates, military attaches of foreign countries accredited to Azerbaijan, military personnel of various types of troops of Azerbaijan Army, as well as media representatives.

Then, the national flags of the participating countries of the “Sea Cup-2019” contest were presented at the ceremony.

The Cup of the “Sea Cup-2019” contest, which was held with the participation of the team of the Caspian Flotilla of the Navy of the Russian Federation, the Naval Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Azerbaijan and the flags of the participating countries under ovations were presented on stage, a video containing a brief chronicle of the competition was shown, as well as the participants of the event were informed about the final decision of the Board of Referees.

The winner of the “Sea Cup-2019” contest, which was held in conditions of transparency and mutual understanding in the territorial waters of Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea became the Azerbaijani team. The second place was taken by the Russian team, the third - the Kazakhstan team.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, Chief of the Main Department of Combat Training and Military Education, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the “Sea Cup-2019” contest, Lieutenant General Nizam Osmanov noted that the “Sea Cup-2019” contest, which was held as part of the 5th International Army Games 2019 is ending in Baku today. He noted that the teams of the Navy of the Russian Federation, the Naval Forces of Iran, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan have demonstrated their skills in the tense competition that took place over ten days in the territorial waters of Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea. “We have witnessed a high level of professional and combat training of the contest participants. On behalf of the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, I congratulate all participants, referees, fans, in particular, the winning teams on the successful completion of the “Sea Cup-2019” contest.”

Then the awarding ceremony of the winners of the contest was held. Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Lieutenant General Karim Valiyev, First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Ruslan Tsalikov, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan, Chief of the Main Department of Combat Training and Military Education, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the “Sea Cup-2019” contest, Lieutenant General Nizam Osmanov, Chief of the Navy Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Vice Admiral Andrei Volozhinsky, captain of the first rank Zaur Hummatov and Chief of the Combat Training Department of the Navy of the Russian Federation, Rear-Admiral Oleg Korolev handed the teams cups, medals and diplomas.

First Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Ruslan Tsalikov congratulated the participants of the contest and noted that the competition was held at a high level. He emphasized that such competitions contribute to peace and stability in the world. Tsalikov noting that Azerbaijan organized this competition at a very high level, on behalf of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation expressed gratitude to the command staff of the Azerbaijan Army.

Deputy Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Lieutenant General Karim Valiyev noted that the “Sea Cup-2019” contest became grandiose and was held in the best conditions. He said: “On behalf of the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, I express gratitude to all the organizers and delegations of the countries participating in the contest. We tried to conduct competitions in the conditions of high hospitality and friendship. I believe that we have achieved this. However, the greatest achievements in these competitions were friendship and fraternity.”

Then, Karim Valiyev declared the “Sea Cup-2019” contest closed.

The national anthem of Azerbaijan which became the winner of the “Sea Cup-2019” contest was performed.

Then the flags of the International Army Games and the “Sea Cup” contest were lowered.

The ceremony ended with a concert program.