Dec.17
Azerbaijan joins new ITU regulation
Azerbaijan joined the new regulations of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the Azerbaijani Communications and IT Ministry said after a document was signed by Minister Ali Abbasov.
The new regulations will come into force after ratification according to the Azerbaijani legislation.
The new ITU new regulations are to ensure the free flow of information worldwide and was agreed within the World Conference on International Telecommunications, held in Dubai (Dec. 13-14).
The text of the agreement focuses on further efforts to help developing countries, to promote access to information for people with disabilities and to approve the right of all people to freedom of speech within the networks of information and communication technologies. New ITU regulations will create the way to a more equitable sphere for all.
A decision was made at the conference to create a single global number for the emergency services, as well as new provisions aimed at improving the energy efficiency of ICT networks and help combat e-waste.
Azerbaijani State Oil Fund purchases real estate in London
State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), announced on December 17, 2012 its first real estate investment, with the purchase of 78 St James's Street, an office complex in London's West End for £177. 35 million.
Azerbaijan, Argentina sign agreement on cooperation in taxation
Azerbaijan and Argentina have signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation to exchange information on taxation, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Taxes said.
The agreement was signed within a meeting between the head of the Argentine Federal Administration of Public Revenues, who is the most active member of the Inter-American Centre for Tax Administration, Ricardo Echegaray and Azerbaijani Minister of Taxes Fazil Mammadov in Baku.
Echegaray said the Federal Administration of Public Revenues is ready to share its extensive experience with Azerbaijan in tax collection in oil and gold production.
Echegaray also added that Azerbaijan and Argentina have great potential for cooperation in the economic, social and other spheres.
The Azerbaijani Minister of Taxes pointed out that bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Argentina have been developing rapidly. The minister appreciated the intensity of mutual visits as a positive index of effective collaboration.
EU, Azerbaijan confirm commitment to negotiations with Turkmenistan on Trans-Caspian Pipeline
The EU-Azerbaijan cooperation in the energy sector was discussed in Brussels, Council of the EU reported.
During the thirteenth meeting of the Cooperation Council between the EU and Azerbaijan the sides confirmed their commitment to the negotiations with Turkmenistan on the construction of the Trans-Caspian Pipeline.
Trans-Caspian gas pipeline running to around 300 kilometres will be laid from the Turkmen coast of the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijani, where it will be linked to the Southern Gas Corridor. Negotiations between Turkmenistan and the EU and other countries on the construction of the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline have been on-going since the late 90s.
In September, 2011 the EU Council gave a mandate for negotiations between the EU, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to build the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline. However, later, Iran and Russia expressed negative attitude toward this project. Tehran and Moscow think that the pipeline construction will damage the Caspian Sea environment.
The Cooperation Council also welcomed the Azerbaijani Parliament's ratification the bilateral agreements with Turkey on the construction and operation of the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP), as part of the Southern Energy Corridor. TANAP project envisages construction of the pipeline from the eastern border of Turkey to the country's western border to supply gas from Azerbaijani Shah Deniz gas field to Europe through Turkey.
Both sides confirmed the importance of the Southern Corridor and its contribution in reaching the common objective of energy security and the security of energy transportation from the Caspian Sea to the EU.
Dec.18 Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences installs 10 GPS stations to study crustal movements
The Republican Seismological Centre of the Azerbaijani National Academy of Sciences has installed 10 GPS stations to study horizontal crustal movements, the centre said.
The global positioning system stations have been installed on the basis of the existing seismic stations in Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan. The total number of seismic stations is now 31.
Some 15 more stations are planned to be installed in January 2013. The total number of GPS stations will reach 25. They will be included into the general system of space geodesy with satellite communication.
At present, the centre has already begun to explore horizontal crustal movements.
GPS stations can determine the displacement of the earth's crust caused by earthquakes and accurately measure very weak oscillations of the earth's crust. All measurement data are sent to a computer centre supplemented by other types of measurements and used to predict the areas of high seismic activity.
Azerbaijani President receives BP director
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has received Robert Dudley, BP Chief Executive Officer.
The sides have expressed satisfaction with the development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and BP, and also stressed the achieved effective results on the fields, developed jointly in Azerbaijan, as well as on the "Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli", "Shah Deniz" fields.
They also discussed the issues related to the current situation and prospects of cooperation.
Social rented housing to be available in Azerbaijan
Social rented housing for low-income families will be available in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani Deputy Economic Development Minister Sevinj Hasanova said at an event on housing and community issues in Azerbaijan.
"The low-income families have been able to use social mortgage since 2005 to provide themselves with housing," he said. "However, as we know, not all citizens are able to obtain loans within the social mortgage. Azerbaijan will introduce social rented housing for people with low income within the state measures. This is a major step in resolving the issue of providing poor families with housing in the country."
She said that all the conditions for obtaining housing through social rent have been reflected in the Azerbaijani Housing Code. At present, on average, some 18 square meters of housing fall to one person and this figure continues to grow.
The new methods of housing governance were introduced within the event.
Dec.19 Minister: UAE interested in strengthening economic ties with Azerbaijan
The United Arab Emirates is interested in strengthening economic cooperation with Azerbaijan, UAE Economy Minister Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri said at the fourth meeting of the Higher Economic Cooperation Council of Azerbaijan and the UAE, Al-Ittihad news agency reported.
Al Mansouri stressed that the collaboration has been enhanced between the countries since 2008, particularly in tourism, transport, education, health, industry and agriculture.
He said the UAE has become the largest economic partner of Azerbaijan in recent years.
Securities of Azerbaijani issuers may be listed on the London Stock Exchange
The Baku Stock Exchange (BSE) is ready to start the implementation of certain ideas in the framework of cooperation with the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
The Institute of Depositary Receipts may be offered to the LSE at the initial stage, meaning that the securities that are listed on the BSE may also be represented on the London Stock Exchange, the chairman of the State Committee for Securities (SCS) Rufat Aslanli told journalists.
"The LSE accepts the terms of the Azerbaijani market as adequate for the offer of these securities on the London Stock Exchange, Aslanli said. We are cautiously optimistic about the success of these ideas. This kind of cooperation with the LSE will be the next step, following its IPO, which is expected in 2013."
He said, today, the institutional capacity of the Azerbaijani stock market allows cooperation and partnership with the LSE.
Azerbaijan invited to participate in Greek privatization program
Greece is interested in cooperation with Azerbaijan, particularly, in the areas of mutual interest between the states.
This was said by the Secretary General for International Economic Relations and Cooperation Development, Peter Mihalos at the recently held Greek conference 'Greece-Azerbaijan: Issues and opportunities for business cooperation'.
Mihalos said Greece is interested in developing cooperation with Azerbaijan in such fields as tourism, the Greek Privatization Program and energy corridors.
He also noted that the Greek Foreign Ministry is ready to contribute to the development and strengthening of cooperation with Azerbaijan.
The event was supported by Greek-Azerbaijani Chamber of Commerce.
Azerbaijan invited to participate in "International Green Week" in Berlin
Azerbaijan again will take part in "International Green Week", a report released on the official website of the Azerbaijani Fund Export and Investment Promotion (AZPROMO) says.
"International Green Week 2013" will be held in Berlin on January 18-27, 2013.
The largest international exhibition in Europe, the "Green Week" is being held since 1926. It exhibits food, agricultural and fishing products. Every year the exhibition is attended by over half a million people, more than 1,500 companies from more than 50 countries are participating in this event. The total exhibition area is 160,000 square meters.
During the event the entrepreneurs will get a chance to develop relationships with foreign companies operating in the field of animal husbandry, fishing, landscaping and other areas.
Azerbaijani President lays foundation stone for Balakhani Industrial Park
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has attended a ceremony to lay the foundation stone for Balakhani Industrial Park.
Economic development minister Shahin Mustafayev told the Head of State the establishment of the park was aimed at expanding the manufacture of competitive industrial products, ensuring sustainable development of the non-oil sector, increasing the population`s employment in the industrial sector, as well as improving environmental situation in Baku and adjacent districts.
Balakhani Industrial Park will open favorable opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors in reprocessing industry.
The President laid the foundation stone for the park. The Head of State was also informed of Balakhani water supply project. The President was told that a more than 80 km long pipeline will be built in Balakhani as part of a project to establish the water supply system. Construction work will take a year.
Azerbaijani President inaugurates municipal solid waste sorting factory and incineration plant in Balakhani
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has opened a municipal solid waste sorting factory in Balakhani.
President Ilham Aliyev familiarized himself with the administrative building of the facility.
Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev informed the Head of State about the factory's activity.
Then, the Azerbaijani leader became familiar with working mechanism of the municipal solid waste sorting factory.
The Head of State was told that the factory is Azerbaijan's first pilot project in this field. The facility's annual capacity is 200,000 tons of production.
The Head of State praised the conditions created at the factory. President Aliyev has also inaugurated the Baku municipal solid waste incineration plant. The Head of State familiarized himself with the activity of the plant.
Economic Development Minister Shahin Mustafayev informed the President that the facility is the biggest municipal solid waste incineration plant in the Eastern Europe and CIS. The plant was built by French CNIM Company.
President Ilham Aliyev laid foundation stone for the facility on November 3, 2009.
The plant capacity is 500,000 tons per year. It will generate 231,500 megawatt of electricity from incineration of the household waste.
President Ilham Aliyev launched the facility by pressing a button, and watched a documentary on the activity of the Baku municipal solid waste incineration plant.
Addressing the event, President Ilham Aliyev praised the conditions created in the plant and wished success to the facility's staff.
Chairman of the Management Board of CNIM Company Nicolas Dmitrieff also delivered a speech at the event
Azerbaijani Central Bank completes preparing legal framework for private credit bureaus
The bill on setting up a private credit bureau in Azerbaijan has been submitted to the Presidential Administration, Coordinator of IFC project on strengthening the financial infrastructure in Central Asia and Azerbaijan Teymur Eybatov said.
"Two meetings of the executive committee were held to create a private credit bureau together with the banks, potential shareholders of the first private credit bureau in the country which signed a memorandum of understanding," he said. "The bill on the bureau and other issues were discussed during the meetings."
"One of the decisions made at the last meeting of the executive committee, was to begin preparations for sending RFI (Request for Information) from technical partners on the intention to become a partner in the creation of a private credit bureau," Eybatov stated. This proposal will be sent to all operators of credit bureaus around the world. The process takes an average from 12 to 18 months.
Dec. 20
SOFAZ acquires property in Paris
The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) acquired €135 million property (offers office, retail and residential space) at 8 Place Vendôme in Paris, the Fund informed.
Property was acquired from AXA Real Estate Investment Managers (AXA Real Estate). SOFAZ has been advised by Cushman Wakefield and Allen&Overry.
This investment is a part of a strategy to build a diversified real estate portfolio comprised of high quality, prime assets in major cities of the world.
Paris, being the largest office market in Europe, warranted its place as one of the initial destinations for SOFAZ's investments.
According to the Fund, Place Vendôme is the most prestigious square in Paris and is widely considered as the most prime location in the city. Combining high-class offices and luxury retail brands, this micro market is highly sought after by national and international occupiers and attracts prime rental levels.
The acquired classic French Baroque mansion with the total area of 5,400 square meters was constructed in XVIII century and offers office building from the 1950's. The property offers office, retail and residential space.
Testing of Azerbaijani Azerspace-1 satellite complete
The testing of the first national telecommunications satellite Azerspace-1 has been completed, Azerkosmos JSC said.
Delivery time of the satellite to the Kura Cosmodrome from the Orbital Science Corp. plant will be determined according to the schedule set by the manufacturer of the carrier rocket, French Arianespace.
The satellite will be delivered to the cosmodrome in January 2013, but its launch into a geostationary orbit is planned for February 2013.
In order to become familiar with the process more closely, there is one employee from JSC and two from Telesat at the Orbital Sciences Corporation plant
As was said to Trend earlier, work on the construction of the Ariane-5 missile carrier which is to bring the satellite into a geostationary orbit has been carried out according to schedule.
The satellite will be launched into a geostationary orbit at 46 degrees Eastern longitude, leased from the Malaysian company Measat Satellite Systems owned by the Malaysian government.
The countries of Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia and Northern Africa will enter into its service area.
The Azerbaijani Azerspace telecommunication satellite will offer digital broadcasting services, access to the Internet network, database transfer, creation of multiservice VSAT networks and also government relations.
Azerbaijani President opens Gusar-1 hydroelectric power station
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev inaugurated the Gusar-1 hydroelectric power station as part of his visit to the country`s Gusar district.
President of Azerenerji JSC Etibar Pirverdiyev informed the Head of State about the hydroelectric power station.
President Ilham Aliyev launched the facility.
The President laid foundation stone for the hydroelectric power station in August, 2010.
The hydro electric power station has 3 hydro turbines, a hydro generator and a 10 KW- substation.
The facility will produce 5 million kWh of electricity per year. The hydro electric power station was built by Azenco Company.
Azerbaijani President attends opening of Gusar-Laza highway
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the opening of the Gusar-Laza highway.
The Head of State cut a ribbon symbolizing the opening of the road.
Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov informed the President about the technical indicators of the highway.
The Head of State also viewed photo stands reflecting the technical indicators of the road.
The construction of the highway started in 2007. The two-lane road is 39 km in length, 8 meters in width.
The 318 meter-long 8 bridges were constructed over the highway.
Dec. 21
Tests of Azeri segment of the EPEG cable line now complete
Work is complete on the testing of the Azerbaijani segment of the EPEG optic cable line (Europe- Persia Express Gateway), Technical Director of Delta Telecom, Raid Alekberli said.
Alekberli said each segment of the cable line laid on the territory of member states is being thoroughly tested, and as expected, the next meeting of EPEG participants' will be timed in conjunction with the commissioning of the project which is scheduled for early 2013.
The decision to launch the tests was made in November at the last meeting of consortium members which took place in Iran.
The EPEG cable route, connecting Oman and Frankfurt, passes through Azerbaijan, Poland and Ukraine. These routes are organized at rented capacities in each of the three countries.
EPEG's participants are The Iranian Telecommunication Infrastructure Company (TIC), Omani Omantel, Russian Rostelecom and international Cable & Wireless (C & W).
The capacity will reach about 3.2 TBPS, and its length will extend to 6,000 kilometers.
The commissioning of the EPEG cable line will lead to further internet price reductions in Azerbaijan.
AZAL orders ten AgustaWestland Helicopters
Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) has ordered ten AgustaWestland (Finmeccanica company, Italy) helicopters, Italian company reported on its official website.
The order comprises a contract for eight AW139 intermediate twins and a preliminary sales contract for two AW189 medium twins. Six helicopters, four AW139s and the two AW189s, will be used for offshore transport operations; two AW139s for emergency medical services, one AW139 for search and rescue and one AW139 for VIP transport.
Deliveries are expected to start in the second half of 2013. The contract is valued at approximately 115 million euros.
Azerbaijan invited to participate in gold and silver technologies exhibition in Iran
Azerbaijan is invited to participate in the exhibition of technologies of gold, silver, and jewelry making, which will be held in the Iranian capital Tehran, official website of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) reports.
A practical workshop and exhibition of equipment will also be held within the event.
The event will be held in Tehran from Feb.7 to Feb.10, 2013.
Gold production in Azerbaijan was 1.3 tons, silver - 503.6 kg in January-October 2012.
SOCAR opens new petrol station in Georgia
The number of SOCAR petrol stations in Georgia will reach 100 units by late 2012, SOCAR said.
According to the report, in particular, a new petrol station has been commissioned in Bakuriani settlement, Borjomi district, Georgia today.
Thus, the number of SOCAR petrol stations in Georgia reached 90.
Multi Stakeholder Group holds meeting at Azerbaijani State Oil Fund
The meeting of the Multi-stakeholder Group (MSG) on implementation of Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) was held at the Azerbaijani State Oil Fund (SOFAZ) on December 21, 2012, SOFAZ said.
Amendments to the Memorandum of Understanding on EITI Implementation in the Republic of Azerbaijan, auditor company reconciliation procedure, report on execution of orders of MSG, conduct Validation in Azerbaijan in 2014 and other issues on EITI implementation in Azerbaijan were discussed at the meeting.
Implementation of "spot-check" method for increase of data reliability in reports was decided at the meeting.