Weekly actual topics in Azerbaijan (Apr. 17-21)

Azerbaijan’s extractive industries commission adopts action plan

Extractive Industries Transparency Commission of Azerbaijan has held its first meeting, Shahmar Movsumov, the chairman of the commission, the head of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), said at a press conference in Baku.

During the meeting, participants discussed statute of the commission, decision making process, collaboration with stakeholders, as well as content of 2016 Transparency Report, auditor selection procedure, list of extractive companies to be audited and made appropriate decisions, he said.

Besides, the commission’s 2017 Action Plan, reporting forms on transparency in extractive industries, terms of reference were discussed and appropriate decisions were made during the meeting, he added.

The Extractive Industries Transparency Commission was established in accordance with the decree of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev dated April 5, 2017.

Interest limit on insured deposits may change in Azerbaijan

The Supervisory Board of the Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund (ADIF) may consider changing the uppermost limit of the interest rate for individuals’ insured deposits in the national and foreign currency after April 20, 2017, Azad Javadov, executive director of the ADIF, said at a press conference in Baku.

Currently, the uppermost limit of the interest rate for individuals’ insured deposits in foreign currency is 3 percent. The maximum interest rate for individuals’ manat deposits covered by insurance is 15 percent.

Earlier, Javadov told Trend that the uppermost limit of the interest rate for insured deposits of individuals may be liquidated in Azerbaijan. He said this can be done through expanding ADIF mandate and amending Azerbaijan’s legislation.

ADIF has been operating since August 13, 2007. Thirty two banks operating in the country are ADIF members.

ABA: Exchange offices to help Azerbaijan’s tourism development

Resumption of operation of currency exchange offices outside banks will contribute to development of tourism and financial markets in Azerbaijan, head of the Azerbaijan Banks Association (ABA) Zakir Nuriyev told reporters in Baku.

The resumption of exchange offices’ operation outside banks is provided by amendments to the “Law on Currency Regulation”, submitted to the Azerbaijani Parliament for consideration.

“Azerbaijan is realizing special programs for tourism development and development of financial markets. Their successful implementation requires creation of the necessary infrastructure and its efficient operation. From this viewpoint, the amendments could be helpful,” Nuriyev said.

In accordance with the amendments, individuals and legal entities will be allowed to open currency exchange offices in Azerbaijan.

Investment rating of Azerbaijani regions

Baku, Nakhchivan, Mingachevir, Sumgait and Shirvan are the most attractive cities of Azerbaijan in 2017 in terms of investing, according to the Investment Rating of Regions, prepared by the country’s Center for Economic Reforms Analysis and Communication.

Such a rating has been prepared in Azerbaijan for the first time. When compiling it, international experience was used, and the approaches used in the ranking are similar to the global competitiveness index of the World Economic Forum and the EU’s Regional Competitiveness Index. The rating list covers 63 cities and districts of Azerbaijan.

This year Baku ranked first in the rating. The investment attractiveness index of the Azerbaijani capital was 0.785 percent, which is natural, given that Baku is the country’s biggest city.

Baku is followed by Nakhchivan with 0.638 percent. It is noteworthy that the investment attractiveness index of Nakhchivan has significantly increased as compared to 2016.

Mingachevir ranked the third (0.465 percent in 2017 as compared to 0.502 percent in 2016) and is followed by Sumgait (0.448 percent compared to 0.458 percent) and Shirvan (0.419 percent compared to 0.426 percent).

The Investment Rating of Regions of the Center for Economic Reforms Analysis and Communication was prepared by taking into account three sub-indices: basic sub-index, efficiency sub-index and innovation sub-index.

The basic sub-index covers such indicators as education, healthcare, necessary infrastructure, quality of institutions and contribution to the economy.

The efficiency sub-index covers criteria of efficient labor market, higher education and budgetary dependence.

The innovation sub-index covers criteria of using new technologies and innovation.