Nov. 6
Ilham Aliyev becomes acquainted with retro carriages of Baku Metro
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev became acquainted with retro carriages, restored in connection with the 50th anniversary of Baku Metro.
Chairman of Baku Metro CJSC Zaur Huseynov informed the head of state about the retro carriages.
Then President Ilham Aliyev traveled from the Icherisheher station to Nariman Narimanov station on a train consisting of retro carriages.
Afterwards, President Ilham Aliyev congratulated the staff of Baku Metro on the 50th anniversary and wished them success.
New French visa issuance center to operate in Baku
CAPAGO company will deal with French visa issuance from November 7, the French embassy in Baku said.
The company will operate at the following address: 609 J. Jabbarli Str., Globus Center.
From that date, this company will replace TLS, which previously dealt with French visa issuance.
The French visa issuance center managed by CAPAGO will be open from Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 17:00 (GMT+4).
The new visa center will appoint meetings, answer visa-related questions, receive citizens, accept visa applications, etc.
To appoint a meeting in the new visa center, one needs to visit the website: https://france-visas.gouv.fr/web/az, then appoint meetings at CAPAGO website https://fr-az.capago.eu/
E-mail : [email protected] , phone: 012 310 0710
Thus, visa applications will not be accepted in the visa department of the embassy, except those of holders of Azerbaijani official and diplomatic passports, from Nov. 7, 2017.
Visa applications for the citizens of Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal and Luxembourg will also be considered in a new visa center managed by CAPAGO.
Plastic recycling plant to be built in Azerbaijan's Pirallahi district
The National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support under the Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy has begun accepting investment projects on priority development areas in the Pirallahi district, the Economy Ministry said.
Following a business forum, the Fund considered it appropriate to start accepting proposals of entrepreneurs on financing of startups, as well as investment projects to create olive and almond farms, socks manufacturing facilities and processing of plastic and polyethylene packages.
Entrepreneurs can apply to the Fund through authorized credit organizations. Small projects can be fully financed through concessional loans at the request of entrepreneurs.
The National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support was established in 1992.
Nov. 7
Azerbaijani president receives Afghan finance minister
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev received a delegation led by Afghanistan’s Finance Minister Eklil Ahmad Hakimi.
Noting the existence of strong partnership relations between the two countries, President Aliyev said that the cooperation of the sides already covers such an important sphere as political dialogue and other directions.
Stressing the importance of meetings between the heads of state for the development of bilateral relations, President Aliyev recalled with satisfaction the visit of Afghanistan’s President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani to Azerbaijan and meeting with him at various international events.
The head of state expressed hope for the full implementation of agreements reached during the high-level meetings and negotiations.
President Aliyev emphasized that Azerbaijan supports Afghanistan, and noted the importance of participation of Azerbaijani servicemen in the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan and an active role in logistics.
The head of state also noted the importance of expanding the cooperation in the spheres of investment and economy.
Minister Eklil Ahmad Hakimi, in turn, conveyed greetings of Afghanistan’s President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani to Ilham Aliyev.
The minister stressed that Azerbaijan’s support to his country is highly appreciated by the leadership and people of Afghanistan. He noted that the main purpose of his visit is to discuss issues related to the implementation of reached agreements.
President Aliyev expressed gratitude for the greetings of the Afghan counterpart and asked the minister to convey his greetings to Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.
The two sides also exchanged views on prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan.
Azerbaijan to increase excise tax on tobacco, alcohol imports
Azerbaijan will increase the excise tax rate on imports of tobacco and alcohol products by two times since 2018, said Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov.
He made the remarks at a meeting of five parliamentary committees for discussing the draft state and consolidated budgets for 2018.
The minister said that such a decision was made due to the fact that a sharp reduction in the exchange rate of Azerbaijani manat against the US dollar led to an increase in prices for imported alcohol and tobacco products, as well as to a reduction in excise tax rates in manat.
“This [increase of excise tax] will protect the domestic market and help ensure a healthy lifestyle for the population,” noted Sharifov.
He added that the amendments were taken into account when drawing up the state budget for 2018.
According to the draft state and consolidated budgets for 2018, revenues of the state treasury through the Ministry of Taxes are forecasted to total 7.907 billion manats (39.3 percent of all state budget revenues) next year. Tax revenue forecast for 2018 is 3.4 percent more than similar forecasts for 2017. Forecast on excise tax revenue for 2018 is expected to total 554 million manats (an increase of 6.9 percent as compared to the forecast for 2017).
At present, the excise tax rate on malt beer imported to Azerbaijan is 1 manat per liter; wines from fresh grapes, including fortified wines; grape must – 2 manats per liter; sparkling wines - 2.5 manats per liter; whiskey, vodka, liqueur, rum and other alcoholic beverages - 6 manats per liter.
The excise tax rate on imported cigarettes, cigarillos is 4 manats per 1,000 pieces; cigars - 10 manats per 1,000 pieces.
Azerbaijan reduce customs duty on imports of butter and fat three times
The rate of the customs duty for the import of butter and other fats, oils made from milk, milk pastes has been reduced from 15 to 5 percent, the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan said.
The decision comes into force within 30 days after publication and is valid until December 31, 2019.
Amendments to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers "On import customs duties on goods imported to the territory of Azerbaijan" were made on the basis of an agreed proposal of the Ministries of Economy, Finance, Taxes and the State Customs Committee.
Azerbaijan to simplify notaries’ activity
The notaries are expected to be entitled to obtain necessary information through e-inquiries in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers told Trend.
In this regards, the Law on Notary is planned to be amended.
According to the amendments, the notaries will be entitled to obtain information and documents necessary for carrying out notarial acts and rendering e-services by sending relevant e-requests.
At the same time, the bill enshrines the right of notaries to receive information from the state land cadastre.
So, according to the latest changes to the Tax Code, in cases when notaries act as tax agents, information from the state land cadastre is necessary for accurate and correct calculation of taxes.
Nov. 8
Ilham Aliyev: Oil brings prosperity, development, stability, power in Azerbaijan
In Azerbaijan, oil brings prosperity, development, stability and power, said President Ilham Aliyev at a solemn ceremony marking the production of two billion tons of oil in Azerbaijan at the Heydar Aliyev Center.
“We have managed to turn “black gold” into human capital. We have used our oil revenues very rationally, and today this is being particularly noted globally. There are rich oil fields in many countries, but those countries live in poverty. Stability is violated in those countries and oil brings disaster to them,” noted the president.
The head of state noted that today the oil and gas factor plays a very big role in Azerbaijan's existence as an independent country and in shaping its economic potential.
"Everyone should know this," added President Aliyev.
“We used to import gas from abroad, but now we sell it abroad. We were buying electricity, and now we sell it. Now we sell oil, oil products. We will sell big volumes of gas and more money will be brought to our country."
"We use this money very efficiently and transparently. As you know, all oil revenues are kept transparently in the State Oil Fund. This is one of the most transparent internationally audited oil funds in the world. We allocate funds to projects that are important to the country. We both raise resources and use the funds for the most important social and infrastructure projects, of course, after the approval of these expenses by the Azerbaijani parliament,” said the head of state.
Latvian airline opens office in Baku
The national Latvian airline airBaltic, has opened a representative office in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijani Taxes Ministry's 'Vergiler' newspaper reported.
The official representative of the company is Russian citizen Andrey Larchenko.
The company was founded in 1995. Latvia is the main owner of the company with an 80.05 percent-share.
Currently, airBaltic operates direct flights from the three capitals of the Baltic countries, namely, Riga (Latvia), Vilnius (Lithuania) and Tallinn (Estonia).
The airline's fleet has 30 airliners, including 5 Boeing 737-500 airliners, 6 Boeing 737-300 airliners, 7 Bombardier CS300 airliners and 8 Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft.
Nov. 9
President Aliyev arrives in Ganja city
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has arrived in the country’s Ganja city.
The head of state started his visit by laying flowers at a monument to national leader Heydar Aliyev in the city centre.
Head of Ganja city Executive Authority Elmar Valiyev informed President Aliyev about the construction and landscaping work around the monument.
Ambassador: Azerbaijan - strategic partner of UK in energy sector
Azerbaijan is a strategic partner of the UK in the energy sector, UK's Ambassador to Azerbaijan Carole Mary Crofts said.
Crofts made the remarks at a meeting with Azerbaijani Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov, the Energy Ministry said.
Shahbazov said the Azerbaijan-UK relations are at a high level and energy cooperation has a special place in these relations.
"The two countries have created a successful model of cooperation in the energy sector since 1994,” he said. “The UK has a special place among the countries which supported Azerbaijan's new oil strategy and first expressed interest in oil and gas reserves of the Caspian region."
During the meeting, Shahbazov spoke about the importance of joint projects with BP to strengthen the development of the Azerbaijani oil and gas sector and its role in energy security.
"The joint development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) block of oil and gas fields and the signing of a new ACG agreement will create new opportunities for the development of long-term relations between the two countries,” the minister said. “There are broad opportunities for cooperation in the non-oil sector."
In her turn, Crofts said that successful relations between the countries are based on energy cooperation.
The UK is interested in expansion of the economic relations, the ambassador said.
Crofts added that the UK is one of the most investing countries in Azerbaijan. Around 400 UK companies operate in Azerbaijan.
Further visits will play an important role in assessing the investment climate and identifying new cooperation areas, the ambassador said.
During the meeting, the sides also discussed the current problems of the modern energy market.
Nov. 10
Ilham Aliyev: ACG deal extension to bring tens of billions of dollars to Azerbaijan
The extension of development period of Azerbaijan’s Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) field will bring tens of billions of dollars to the country, said President Ilham Aliyev. He made the remarks in Ganja at a meeting with representatives of general public following the inauguration of the new building of Ganja State Philharmonic.
The president noted that the opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway, which will pass through Ganja, is a historic event. “We implemented that historic project with neighboring countries,” he said. “All this work is in favor of our country. Both our economy and our political power are growing. All our achievements are based on the hard work of the Azerbaijani people."
President Ilham Aliyev added that today development is observed everywhere.
Citizens are participating in construction works with great enthusiasm both in Baku and Ganja, as well as in all regions and in all cities, noted the head of state.
Four bridges constructed in Azerbaijani district
Four bridges have been constructed in Azerbaijani Agstafa district, Azeravtoyol OJSC told Trend. Three bridges were built on the Agstafa-Poylu-Georgian state border highway and one bridge on the Agstafa-Poylu-Duzgishlag-Gazakh highway to ensure comfortable and safe movement of the citizens. New bridges were built across Agstafachay, Ajiderechay and Kura rivers, as well as over the railway.
The previous bridges were in a state of emergency. Bridges over Ajiderechay river and the railway were built in the 1960s, bridge over the Agstafachay river - in 1970s. A bridge over the Kura river was built in 1897.
The bridges over the Agstafachay, Ajiderechay rivers and over the railway were dismantled and new ones were built, while the bridge over the Kura river, taking into account its historical significance, was reconstructed within the project.