BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 30. The contribution to Gross domestic product (GDP) by 2047 will amount to 7.5 billion manat ($4.4 billion) following the commissioning of iron ore deposits in Azerbaijan, General Director of Azerbaijan's Dashkasan Iron Ore LLC (a subsidiary of AzerGold CJSC) Jeyhun Aliyev said during a press conference on the results of activities for 2023, Trend reports.
He noted that according to calculations by the Boston Consulting Group, the cost of investments in the Dashkasan Iron Ore project is estimated at 1.7 billion manat ($1 billion).
“Besides, taking into account the direct and indirect impact of the project, which serves the development of the non-oil and gas sector of our country, it is expected to make a significant contribution to the index employment in the Ganja-Dashkasan economic region by opening thousands of permanent jobs,” he added.
According to Aliyev, along with positive economic and social effect, relatively low average iron content in ore rocks, lack of direct access of the country to the world ocean and other factors to some extent complicate the implementation of the project.
"However, despite this, there is sufficient interest from foreign investors in the project. To ensure financing of the project with high investment value without additional burden on the state budget, AzerGold CJSC is currently negotiating with several large potential partner companies. After assessing the proposals and conditions of all interested parties, a decision will be made on the implementation of the project in the most favorable form for the country and the people," he added.
To note, AzerGold CJSC was entrusted with works related to the commissioning of the Dashkasan iron ore site by the relevant orders of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2020. Dashkasan Iron Ore LLC, established in connection with the project as a subsidiary company, started preparation for operational works. Therefore, at the initial stage, at the two fields of the Dashkasan Iron Ore complex - North-West and South-East - the studies on the evaluation of mineral resources were conducted. As a result, an increase of 69.7 million tons of resources contained in the earth's interior was achieved at both deposits. Thus, the total weight of ore reserves at all deposits of the Dashkasan iron ore area was brought to 309.1 million tons.
Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel