Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 28
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
BP and its partners in Azerbaijani oil and gas projects together with the Azerbaijani Economy Ministry extended the implementation of the local business development program by two years, Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli, BP Azerbaijan vice president, told reporters in Baku Nov. 28.
He added that the main goal of the program is to give momentum to the development of business potential in Azerbaijan.
“The program has been implemented since 2007 and around 2,000 small and medium-sized enterprises have already used it,” Aslanbayli added. “As a result of the program implementation, a number of the companies which participated in it, signed contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars with numerous clients.”
“BP and partners are interested in active participation of local companies in their operations and projects in the region,” he added.
“Legislative requirements have changed over time,” Aslanbayli said. “We have decided to extend the implementation of the program by two years and bring it in accordance with the modern standards and requirements. Azerbaijani Ekvita service consulting company will deal with the program implementation.”
“Over one million manats (official exchange rate on Nov. 28 is 1.7196 AZN/USD) is planned to be spent for the program implementation in the next two years,” Aslanbayli added.
“The program is being implemented only for the Azerbaijani companies,” Ilgar Mehdi, Ekvita managing partner, said at the event dedicated to the extension of the program.
“Joining the program is free,” Mehdi said. “Preference will be given to certain sectors. The program is not limited to the oil and gas sector.”