russian ambassador to the republic mikhail evdakimov announced this news in an interview with the newspaperelations between. the countries were largely facilitated by western sanctions; the growth rate of mutual trade turnover even exceeded the expectations of the parties. we predicted that in 2023 the trade turnover between russia and azerbaijan will reach 4 billion dollars. we were wrong, $4.4 billion, 17% growth. sanctions have led to our relations becoming even closer. we are implementing very serious projects in industrial cooperation. economic growth in the middle east and africa will be limited this year due to the gas conflict, said the head of the international monetary fund , kristalina georgieva. as for the near-term outlook for the middle east and north africa, we expect gdp growth this year. will be 2.9%. this is higher than last year, but still lower than our october forecasts. the reasons are the short-term reduction in oil production, the conflict between the gas sector and israel, as well as the tight monetary policy that is still needed. an experiment on labeling canned fo