OIL FUND TO ACCUMULATE SOCAR’S EXTRA INCOMES

Following the announcement, deputy finance minister Azar Bayramov told journalists that the subject of talks is the accumulations in form of forecast and real prices of SOCAR’s exports of crude oil and petroleum products.

Upon the transfer of 325 billion manats (68 million U.S. dollars) accumulated in the Stabilization Fund since 2003 to date, the inflow and management of these reserves will be legalized. “The difference between budget-envisioned and export price [of crude] will be one of the main sources of incomes of SOFAR,” Bayramov promised.

Although the money has not been transferred to SOFAR, the Milli Majlis’ (parliament) approval of a package of changes in the 2005 state budget will mean the accounting of the above funds as SOFAR’s revenues for 2005, in the sheets of the country’s consolidated budget.