Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend I.Khalilova / The Minister of Economic Development of Azerbaijan, Heydar Babayev, said on 24 September that as a result of reforms in the energy system of Azerbaijan, the level of the payment collection for consumed energy may increase 100% in the next 3-6 months. Due to this, he considers that the project to construct a private electric power station amounting to $1bln, realized by the South Korean KEPKO company, will be paid back.
According to the Minister, together with the increase of salaries in the Baku electricity network, the volume of electricity consumption has decreased and this is a positive factor. "Currently we are trying to minimize the volume of conditional fuel in electricity production in order to forward it to other areas," Babayev said.
Staff changes were made in August to eliminate problems in the activity of Sumgayt electricity network. The reforms were observed through a Presidential decree to have Sumgayt and Sheki electricity networks under management. The Baku and Sumgayt electricity networks were managed by Turkish Barmek Holding, but the contract was ceased in 2006 due to them no fulfilling their liabilities.