MOSCOW, April 22. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed importance of efforts on development of the Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railways for Russia and the entire Commonwealth of Independent States at the meeting with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev.

Putin recalled when opening the meeting that Heydar Aliyev, the father of Ilham Aliyev, supervised construction of the Baikal-Amur railway. "Everybody is well aware that your father played a significant role, headed the governmental commission and visited the construction project many times. He was essentially one of organizers of this formidable project, important for the entire Soviet Union. And we do not only know this, we remember, we are very grateful to him, and cherish the memory of that," the Russian leader said.

Russia is now developing the Eastern Range - the Baikal-Amur railway, the Trans-Siberian railway, and everything associated with that, Putin added.