Azerbaijan, Baku, 3 March / Trend corr. I.Khalilova / According to an inspection by the State Purchase Agency of Azerbaijan, the local manufacturers cannot provide the country with a significant amount of foodstuff and as a result products must be imported, it was stated in the report of Agency carried out by the State enterprises and organizations in 2007. The State spends AZN 16.5mln to cover the demand.
The yearly meat demand comprises 2,000 - 2,500 tons at an average cost of AZN 6.5mln and taking into consideration the strategic importance of this product the State does not produce this product.
The yearly demand of fish and canned fish totals 3,000 - 3,200 tons at a cost of AZN 4.7mln, oil and other plant oil at 2,200 - 2,600 tons at an average cost of AZN 5.3mln.
State Agency specialists believe that the increase in volume of GDP will positively affect the payment balance and currency reserves of the country.
In 2007, some AZN 23,033mnl was allocated from the State Budget to purchase meat, as well as AZN 8,763mln for fish and canned fish and AZN 11,041mln for oil and plant oil. The total volume of expenditure of foodstuff totalled AZN 103,546 mln in 2007.
The correspondent can be contacted at: [email protected]