The South Caucasus is a unique small and densely populated region in the southern part of the Caucasus. It consists of three independent states - Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. Georgia is actively engaged in the Peaceful Neighborhood Initiative in the South Caucasus and strives to deepen political and economic relations with the countries in the region based on sovereign interests. In these processes, strengthening mutually beneficial, trust-based cooperation with the Republic of Azerbaijan is of special interest to Georgia. After the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the regaining of independence by Georgia and Azerbaijan, a completely new phase of diplomatic relations began between the two countries which grew into a strategic partnership. Territorial proximity and the establishment of diplomatic relations have prompted the dynamic development of trade and economic relations between the two countries, which increases the degree of urgency of the study. The presented paper focuses on the priority areas of trade and economic cooperation between Georgia and Azerbaijan. However, at the present stage economics and politics are so closely interrelated that it is impossible to draw a line between them. Therefore, in order to achieve the purpose of the paper, the first chapter focuses on the development of diplomatic relations between the two countries, while the following chapters study trade and economic cooperation between Georgia and Azerbaijan and analyze the development of bilateral cooperation in trade in services; in addition, the trade intensity index is calculated; the importance of investments from Azerbaijan in the Georgian economy is assessed; the transnational energy and transport projects proposed by the Georgian and Azerbaijani governments are discussed; and the growing role of Georgia as trade and transport hub in the Caucasus in both the offshore and onshore components of these projects is assessed. It is noted that trade and economic relations have growing dynamics and show readiness to further develop cooperation. In addition, some suggestions that will be helpful for Georgia to increase the scale of cooperation with Azerbaijan and assist deepening the involvement of the two countries in the world integration processes are proposed. We believe that the paper will enhance further research and discussion on trade and economic cooperation between Georgia and Azerbaijan and, most importantly, ensure support for this kind of cooperation.

The paper studies the current state and development perspectives of transit potential of Georgia. It's noted that favorability of the country's geographic location was proved after foundation of the "Baku-Supsa" and "Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan" pipelines. Ports and terminals of strategic importance, as well as two most important gas pipelines-North-South and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines, are located on the territory of Georgia. Georgian railway plays an important role in utilization of the country's transit potential. Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway (the so called Silk Road) is the beginning of a very important, new era from the point of increasing transit capacity of Georgia and development of new businesses. Construction of a new Silk Way emphasizes transformation of Georgia into multiregional trade gateway connecting Europe, East Asia, India, Central Asia and the Middle East. Due to its strategically important location Georgia is given an opportunity to become actively involved in global integration processes and use the benefit gained from these processes to ensure high rates of economic growth and increase in the competitiveness of the country.

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The present paper studies the transit potential of Georgia and developing perspectives. It's noted, that strengthening of transit energy corridor is of great importance for Georgia due to its strategically important geographical location. Thanks to its transit and energy corridors, Georgia gained the status of the country that supports balancing of economic interests between European and Asian countries. Favorability of the country's geographical location has been proved and increased since the establishment of Baku-Supsa and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipelines. Besides these two geo-economically strategic pipelines of international importance, there are two exceptionally important gas pipelines running through the territory of Georgia: the North-South or Shah Deniz and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines. Strategically important Georgian ports and terminals such as Batumi, Poti and Kulevi have direct connections with railway lines of Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Russia and Bulgaria. Development of port infrastructure is one of the priorities for Georgia. For this purpose, construction of deep-water port in Anaklia is of special importance. The government of Georgia has already called for investors to express interest in this project. Full utilization of its transit capacity will be beneficial for Georgia both from political and economic point of view. Due to its geopolitical location, Georgia turned out to be in the area of strategic interests of the US, EU, Russia, Turkey, Iran and China. As a result, developed countries have begun to actively cooperate with Georgia with the purpose of utilization of their predominant geopolitical and economic importance. Georgia is developing multilateral relations directed to global integration and the transit potential is one of the main preconditions of achieving competitiveness in these processes. The country has good opportunities for economic prosperity and rapid growth. The main task in this regard is to avoid threats by careful maneuvering and suggest mutually beneficial economic projects based on equal partnership to the international community. All this makes it possible to introduce economic, social, political, legal and other kinds of achievements of the West adapted with national values in Georgia. The paper concludes that due to its strategically important location Georgia is given an opportunity to become actively involved in global integration processes and use the benefit gained from these processes to ensure high rates of economic growth and increase in the competitiveness of the country.

In today’s globalized, dynamic world, organizations’ dependence on information and, consequently, their interest and demands for information is growing. Information technologies play a crucial role in effective functioning and control for modern companies and business. In the conditions of operational accessibility of necessary information it is possible to adequate evaluation of current situation and to make timely decision. At the same time, information must be available only to those to whom it is intended and unavailable - to all remaining. Computers are integrated into a common network for fast data transfer and efficient interaction. This connection must be reliable and secure. Modern companies are interested in possibility of using Internet channels. However, the principles of building of the Internet give the chance to malefactors to steal and distort information purposely. Corporate and broadcasting networks which are based on TCP/IP protocols and are constructed on standard Internet applications (E-mail, Web, FTP) have no warranty from invasion of unauthorised persons. In article the technology of creation of the virtual private networks (VPN), which is one of the optimal variants for creation of secure channel of communication, is considered.