Tag Archives: Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan cuts interest rates

MAY 10 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan cuts its key interest rate to a three year low last month because of a drop in inflation, Elman Rustamov, head of the Central Bank, said.

The Azerbaijani economy is generally on the up. There are some weak points, such as loose controls over consumer borrowing, but the Central Bank is managing to maintain growth rates as well as keeping inflation under control.

So confident has the Central Bank been feeling that on April 30 it cut its key interest rate to 4.25% from 4.75%. This was the first rate cut for 14 months and marks the lowest level since 2011.

Mr Rustamov explained the thinking behind the rate cut.

“Inflation in the country is at its lowest level. By the outcome of the first quarter, the inflation in the country stands at 2%,” he said.

“Interest rates need to be reduced. They should be reduced to such a level that they will be suitable both for the population and for businesses.”

Of course slowing inflation can also mask other problems. There may have been a slowdown in consumer demand and the economy may need a nudge.

But relaxing interest rates also presents a risk to Azerbaijan’s economy. Recent reports from international economists have all highlighted the threat from consumer borrowing. Moody’s said that consumer loans would grow by 20% this year, compared to 25% last year.

Cutting interest rates is hardly going to curb this trend.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)

Azerbaijan to pump gas to Russia

MAY 13 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Closed since January, Azerbaijan will start sending gas to Russia through the Baku-Novorossiysk pipeline soon as repair work is almost finished, the head of the state energy company SOCAR, Rovnag Abdullayev, said. Russia and Azerbaijan have rowed over gas supplies through the pipeline.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 184, published on May 14 2014)

Azerbaijan to feature in football final

APRIL 30 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan will play a prominent role in the UEFA Champions League Final, which has an estimated television audience of 175m. Atletico Madrid beat London side Chelsea in the semi-final to set up a final in Lisbon on May 24 against rivals Real Madrid. Azerbaijan sponsors Atletico Madrid’s shirt.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)

Azerbaijan confirms F1 race

MAY 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Baku will host a Formula One race next year, AP quoted a spokeswoman at the Azerbaijani ministry of sport as saying. Speculation has built this year that Azerbaijan would host a leg of one of the most-watched and glamorous global sporting events.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)

Azerbaijani court jails youth activists

MAY 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijan’s strong-handed approach to opposition activists may have reached a tipping point after rare scuffles between young anti-government campaigners and police.

The trigger was a judge’s decision to jail eight leaders of the NIDA anti-government youth movement to between six and eight years on charges of hooliganism, possessing drugs and explosives and intent to spread public disorder.

If the charges sound draconian and Soviet that’s because they are, say human rights activists. The authorities say that they are simply doing their job and protecting the state.

Over the past few years, the authorities in Azerbaijan have been steadily ramping up their campaign against anti-government activists.

Barely a month passes without an opposition figure appearing in a court on charges of hooliganism. These court appearances invariably end up with a jail sentence.

Police arrested all eight NIDA activists during demonstrations in Baku in March 2013 against the death of an army conscript in mysterious circumstances.

The verdict, although predictable, triggered scuffles outside the courthouse in Baku and more detentions. The violence was not particularly serious but it is still important. Although street demonstrations in Azerbaijan are sometimes tolerated, there is very little history of violence against the police.

There may, though, be more to come.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)

Azerbaijan’s Anglo-Asian strikes copper deal

MAY 6 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) – Anglo-Asian Mining, Azerbaijan’s only gold producer, signed a deal to sell its copper concentrate to Geneva trade house Industrial Minerals SA. Anglo-Asian Mining, reported to have links with the Azerbaijani elite, produces copper at its Gedabek mine.

ENDS

(News report from Issue No. 183, published on May 7 2014)

Azerbaijani defence officials visit Brazil

APRIL 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A delegation from Azerbaijan’s ministry of defence started a two-day visit to meet with their counterparts in Brazil, media reported. Azerbaijan has been looking to boost its defence sector, an area that Brazilian industry has been expanding into.

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(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

New airport terminal opens in Azerbaijan

APRIL 23 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev officially opened a new terminal at Baku airport. The new terminal will double passenger capacity at Baku airport to 6m. The Azerbaijani authorities are pouring money into Baku, which they want to beautify and modernise.

(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

West criticises purge in Azerbaijan

APRIL 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — International human rights groups, the EU and the United States have all criticised Azerbaijan for its clampdown on opposition journalists and activists.

The Azerbaijani authorities appear to be intensifying their purge of anti-government activists.

On April 28, security personnel at Baku airport stopped prominent human rights activist Leyla Yunus and her husband Arif Yunus from flying to Doha. Media reported that they had been told they were not allowed to leave the country and held them for several hours.

This followed the extradition from Turkey and arrest at Baku airport of Rafiq Mirqadirov, a well-known writer, on allegations that he spied for arch-enemy Armenia.

In Washington a US State Department spokesperson said that she was disturbed by Mr Mirqadirov’s arrest. The European Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Miusnieks, had a similar message for Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

The authorities in Azerbaijani have been on a determined drive to purge the country of their enemies. Other than paranoia, it’s unclear, though, what is driving this purge. The opposition in Azerbaijan is disorganised, under-funded and under-supported. They don’t really hold much threat to the status quo.

One consequence of the crackdown has been to anger Azerbaijan’s Western allies. The crackdown tallies more with Russia’s mindset then with the West. The problem for Azerbaijan is that it has re-aligned its foreign policy away from Russia towards the West.

(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)

EU could extend Azerbaijani pipelines

APRIL 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The European Union is considering extending the proposed TANAP-TAP gas pipeline from Azerbaijan from its current endpoint in Italy to France and Spain, the Russian newspaper Vedomosti reported quoting a European Commission official. TANAP-TAP is supposed to be completed by 2019.

(News report from Issue No. 182, published on April 30 2014)