Baku, Azerbaijan, April 18
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
The assets of Azerbaijan’s State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) as of April 1, 2018 have increased by 5.1 percent compared to the beginning of 2017 ($35.806 billion) and stood at $37.631 billion, SOFAZ said a message.
“The increase was mainly connected with SOFAZ budget revenues, profit from asset management and exchange rate difference,” said the message.
Revenues worth 4,303.3 million manats were received from implementation of oil and gas agreements, including 3.53 billion manats from the sale of profit oil and gas, 5.1 million manats from transit operations, 765.2 million manats as bonus payments.
The revenues from asset management of the Fund for January-March 2018 amounted to 120.9 million manats, while its extra-budgetary revenues related to the exchange rate difference totalled 779.9 million manats.
Thus, 2.3 billion manats were transferred to the state budget. The expenditures in the amount of 30.3 million manats were directed to finance the improvement of social-economic condition of refugees and internally displaced people, 8.1 million manats were used for financing the reconstruction of the Samur-Absheron irrigation system.
Moreover, 1.4 million manats were directed to finance Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway construction and 0.5 million manats were directed to finance "The state program on the education of Azerbaijani youth abroad in 2007-2015".
SOFAZ’s administrative and operational expenses totalled 4.9 million manats.
SOFAZ was established in 1999.
Based on SOFAZ's regulations, its funds may be used for construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructure facilities, as well as solving important national problems.
The main goals of the State Oil Fund include: accumulation of resources and placement of the Fund's assets abroad in order to minimize the negative effect on the economy, the prevention of "Dutch disease" to some extent, promotion of resource accumulation for future generations, and support of current social and economic processes in Azerbaijan.
(1.7 manats = $1 on April 18)