KIEV, Nov. 12 – Azerbaijan, the second-biggest oil supplier to Ukraine after Russia, seeks to further increase supplies, underscoring competition with Russian oil companies, Petro Ovcharenko, the head of UkrTatNafta oil refinery, said Thursday.

Ovcharenko made comments at a meeting with President Viktor Yushchenko, who earlier used his contacts with Azeri President Ilkham Aliyev to help start the supplies as a way of reducing dependence on Russia.