Azerbaijan, Baku, March 6 / Trend E. Ismayilov /
SOCAR is a strategic national asset. It plays a critical role in the national economy as it is a major exporter, taxpayer and employer, the report of the international rating agency Standard & Poor's "State impact on the creditworthiness of "Gazprom", "KazMunayGas" and SOCAR" said on Tuesday.
The state greatly supports SOCAR, by providing access to attractive assets. According to credit rating service Standard & Poor's, this stipulates extremely high possibility for the company to get state support in case of necessarily.
According to the report, SOCAR, as "Gazprom" and KMG, plays a central role in resolving key economic, social or political objectives of the governments of the countries. The company is a major asset and an essential tool of the state oil and gas sector. Moreover, the companies are major exporters, taxpayers and employers.
The characteristics of SOCAR's own creditworthiness is supported by the company's leading role in Azerbaijan's oil and gas sector and the availability of shares in all oil producing, refining and petrochemical enterprises of the country.
"We assess the indices of creditworthiness and SOCAR's debt as relatively favorable now," the report said.
According to Standard & Poor's, the characteristics of SOCAR's own creditworthiness will greatly depend on the implementation of its ambitious program of making investments in the modernization of Azerbaijan's oil refining and petrochemical industries, the construction of new pipelines and expanding its presence abroad.
SOCAR includes the Azneft production association (the companies producing oil and gas on and offshore), the Azerkimya industrial association (chemical enterprises) and Azerigaz industrial association (gas distribution).
SOCAR is the only producer of oil products in the country (it has two refineries on its balance sheet) and also owns petrol stations in Azerbaijan, Georgia and the Ukraine. SOCAR is co-owner of the largest Turkish petrochemical complex Petkim. The company carries out oil trade in various regions of the world through SOCAR Trading.