APRIL 5 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Edward Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov, met in Moscow under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group to discuss setting up talks between their presidents on the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. All incremental moves towards high-level talks over Nagorno-Karabakh are important.
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(News report from Issue No. 179, published on April 9 2014)
MARCH 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — It may not sound like much but it is, in fact, important. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan met on the sidelines of a summit on nuclear security in the Hague between March 24/25, media reported quoting the OSCE. Azerbaijan and Armenia are still officially at war over Nagorno-Karabakh.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
MARCH 29 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev will visit Tehran on April 9 on a trip that marks just how far Azerbaijani- Iranian relations have improved.
Iranian state media announced the news by quoting Iran’s ambassador in Baku, Mohsen Pakayeen.
Although relations between the neighbours are still strained, they have improved immeasurably since Hassan Rouhani took over as Iran’s president last summer. He is credited with bringing a far friendlier, more collegiate attitude to foreign relations compared with his more awkward predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Previously, Azerbaijan and Iran had traded accusations of spying and had accused each other of breaking various border protocols.
In March 2013, the Azerbaijani authorities arrested 22 Iranian citizens for allegedly planning to attack Israeli and American targets in Baku.
Now the talk is of cultural exchanges and bilateral business deals.
In January the two leaders met on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, a meeting that reportedly helped set events in motion for Mr Aliyev’s trip to Tehran later this month.
For Mr Aliyev, improving relations with Iran comes with some pitfalls. Over the past few years his government has striven hard to boost relations with Israel, Iran’s sworn enemy.
Iran imports energy from Azerbaijan; Azerbaijan imports arms from Israel. Mr Aliyev will have to tread carefully on his trip to Baku to both continue to mend relations with Iran while also remembering his alliance with Israel.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — From April 1, Azerbaijan started implementing Euro-4 standards to imported cars. Azerbaijan announced that it was going to make the switch earlier this year. Euro-4 is a higher grade petrol then previously used in Azerbaijan. The move will make car imports into Azerbaijan more expensive.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
MARCH 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan has doubled its tourist numbers since 2003, media reported quoting the ministry of culture. It said that last year 2.3m tourists visited Azerbaijan, slightly down from 2012, when Azerbaijan hosted the Eurovision Song Contest. Azerbaijan wants to hit 5m tourists a year.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan plans to invest about $500m into its broadband infrastructure over the next few years, media reported quoting the Azerbaijani minister for communications Ali Abbasov. It remains to be seen if Azerbaijan will follow through on this proclamation.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s state oil fund bought an office block in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, for $447m, underlining its intent to continue a global shopping spree it started a couple of years ago.
The 25-story Pine Avenue Tower A is Azerbaijan’s first property purchase in the Asia Pacific region.
It follows high profile buys in London, Paris and Moscow in 2012.
Increasingly wealthy, Azerbaijan’s oil fund is worth about $34b. Azerbaijan has openly invested in property, currencies and equities in a drive to build growth and assets for future generations.
“This is a large transaction and shows our belief in the continued strength of major Asian real estate markets which have shown stable returns historically,” Shahmar Movsumov, director of the oil fund, said in a statement.
Critics of the Azerbaijani authorities, though, have said that the oil fund is being wasted on prestige projects. The oil fund expects to spend about $1b on real estate in Asia and Australia this year.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
MARCH 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkish energy company Turcas is considering selling most of its 18.5% stake in the Star oil refinery operated by Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR, media reported. The Star refinery is one of SOCAR’s biggest overseas projects. It is currently being built in Izmir on the Mediterranean coast.
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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)
MARCH 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan has signalled that it is interested in closer ties to NATO, just weeks after the de facto Russian annexation of Crimea.
Media reported that the Azerbaijani government wants to increase the number of officers it has serving at NATO offices around the world.
It has also submitted an updated version of its so-called Individual Partnership Action Plan with NATO to cover 2014 and 2015. This is really just part of a process to allow Azerbaijan to work with NATO on various projects but in the current geopolitical climate it is important.
Crimea has thrown up various headaches for countries in the former Soviet Union. They want to work with Russia but they don’t want to be dominated by their former colonial master.
Azerbaijan’s relationship with Russia has been strained over the past couple of years. They have rowed over gas supplies. Azerbaijan has boosted its output to Europe, angering Moscow. In January, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited NATO HQ in Brussels, underling his commitment to the Western military alliance.
For NATO, Azerbaijan has been an important partner recently.
It not only has 90 soldiers in Afghanistan supporting NATO forces, but it has also played a role in the supply route from Europe to Afghanistan. Roughly 40% of so-called non-lethal cargo for NATO forces in Afghanistan passes through Azerbaijan.
Since the mid-2000s, Azerbaijan has gently re-aligned its foreign policy towards NATO. Although not as enthusiastic a NATO aspirant as neighbouring Georgia, Azerbaijan has said it is keen to extend its peace-keeping responsibilities.
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(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)
MARCH 19 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A consortium led by BP handed out six contracts worth $841m for work on the Shah Deniz II gas project.
Shah Deniz II is the second phase of development at the giant gas field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. It will feed much of its gas to Europe.
The biggest contract winner was a $528m deal to build compressor stations and other infrastructure in Georgia. This was given to a joint venture between Turkey’s Bechtel International and ENKA.
A $174m contract was given to British construction company Chicago Bridge & Iron for various pipeline and engineering work.
The remaining contracts worth $139m for sub-sea and pipeline engineering were given to Wood Group Kenny Limited, Apply Emtunga, DrillTec GmbH and CSM Bessac.
First gas is expected to flow from Shah Deniz II in 2018. The project is considered vital for the future EU gas supplies.
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(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)