Details added (first version posted on 14:12)

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 8

By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:

The government of Azerbaijan will increase the authorized capital of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) in order to finance the modernization of the Baku Oil Refinery named after Heydar Aliyev, the President of SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters May 8.

He said that the modernization of the refinery will be financed at the expense of loans from the Central Bank of Azerbaijan, as well as with the help of the government.

"The government will allocate funds in order to increase the authorized capital of SOCAR, so that we could hold the reconstruction [of the refinery]," said Abdullayev.

He went on to add that the cost of modernization of the plant will be determined after holding all the tenders.

"The cost of the project amounted to 1.2 billion manats, according to previous estimates, but now the prices have changed," said the head of SOCAR. "Certain tender procedures will be held. Specially created commission works on the project. It weekly reports to the government on the progress of work."

He said that the size of the authorized capital increase will also be determined following the tender.

Edited by CN

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