Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend U.Ismaylova / Lack of qualified economists in Azerbaijan may delay the transition for large enterprises to operate in accordance with international accounting standards, said the representative of the large international worldwide consulting company PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Elchin Ibadov, on 20 August.
From 1 January 2008, large enterprises in Azerbaijan, including SOCAR, Azerigaz JSC, Azerenergy JSC, Azersu JSC, Azerkimiya State Company, must transfer to international accounting standards according to the Presidential decree. "Not all financial specialists are fluent in English and all training material is devised in English which doubly delays this process," he said during the training seminar on international accounting standards held by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Auditor Chamber of Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan State Economic University.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers' only client in this regard is the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR), Ibadov said.
In 2007 the headquarters of PriceWaterhouseCoopers allocated a $9,200 grant for its employees in the Azerbaijan office to translate the training material into Azeri.
The project is realized jointly by the Azerbaijani office of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, UniBank and the Baku Stock Exchange.
PriceWaterhouseCoopers has representations in 120 countries worldwide. Generally the Company employs 155,000 people, including 70 employees in Azerbaijan. There are 19 other public enterprises in Azerbaijan which are clients of various large worldwide consulting companies represented in the Country. Companies Deloitte, KPMG Azerbaijan and Ernst & Young were unavailable for comment.