Tag Archives: Azerbaijan

UNESCO gives polo to Azerbaijan

DEC. 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — In the end, despite, Iranian objection, Azerbaijan got its way. It can now celebrate a decision by UNESCO, the UN’s cultural body, to decree the game of chovqan as originating in Azerbaijan, media reported.

Chovqan is similar to polo. Other examples of past-times and hobbies that UNESCO has given special national status to include Japanese Washoku cooking and Georgian wine making.

But Azerbaijan’s drive to have UNESCO infer special status on chovqan has upset its neighbour Iran which said the game was pan-regional. Relations between Azerbaijan and Iran have become increasingly strained.

And there are people in Baku who also agree that Azerbaijan’s priorities in pushing for special UNESCO recognition of chovnaq is wrong.

Local media quoted Rahman Badalov, a Baku-based philosopher and art critic, as saying that this was “the latest example of the government misusing budget resources”.

Still, for Azerbaijan’s officials this is an important victory that helps to build its national heritage.

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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

Azerbaijan jails another 10 people

DEC. 9 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Baku jailed another 10 people for plotting various attacks during the Eurovision Song Contest in May 2012. Azerbaijan has now jailed 46 people for plotting the attacks which securities officials said were linked to neighbouring Iran.

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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

Azerbaijan signs deal with China

DEC. 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — China agreed a deal that it hopes will deepen economic relations with Azerbaijan, media reported. The deal will mean that China gives nearly $5m to Azerbaijan to promote both bilateral cooperation and Chinese-made products. Over the last couple of years, China has been trying to boost its economic ties with the South Caucasus.

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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

Azerbaijan halts oil exports via Russia

DEC. 5 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan will halt all its oil exports via Russia in February, an official for the Azerbaijani state energy company SOCAR told Reuters. Azerbaijani-Russian relations have become increasingly strained and over the past few years Azerbaijan has shift most of its oil exports to Europe via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

Turkey takes larger share in TANAP

DEC. 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Turkey will take a larger stake in the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) running from the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea to Europe, said Rovnag Abdullayev, head of Azerbaijan’s state energy company SOCAR. Statoil and Total will be offered smaller stakes to accommodate Turkey’s ambitions.

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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

Global Witness investigates Azerbaijan’s SOCAR

DEC. 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Profits from SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy company, are disappearing offshore through a network of faceless companies controlled by one mysterious man.

That’s the short version of how Azerbaijan’s energy sector is run according to the London-based anti-corruption lobby group Global Witness in their new report entitled “Azerbaijan Anonymous”.

“While SOCAR and its partners may well have acted within the law, the lack of transparency about SOCAR’s partners and how they came to be involved in the Azerbaijani oil industry raises questions over potential conflicts of interest, preferential treatment, and the risk of corruption,” Global Witness wrote.

SOCAR has denied that it has done anything illegal and said in response: “The Republic of Azerbaijan is a founding member of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) task force subjecting the reviews of SOCAR to thorough examination and auditing.”

The EITI is a group set up to monitor whether resource-rich countries spend their revenues responsibly. Global Witness’s report criticised EITI too and said it was a weak institution with little genuine influence.

On Azerbaijan, the Global witness report said that Anar Aliyev, the mysterious owner of several companies linked to SOCAR, was virtually unknown and that he was working on behalf of several higher profile individuals. It said that Mr Aliyev was formally responsible for dozens of companies which have generated $375m profit over five years.

Aliyev is a common surname in Azerbaijan and Anar Aliyev has no family connection with Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s president.

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(News report from Issue No. 164, published on Dec. 11 2013)

MP jailed in Azerbaijan

DEC. 2 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — A court in Baku jailed former Azerbaijani MP Gular Akhmadova for three years for corruption. In 2005, Akhmadova had tried to extort a $1m bribe from the owner of an Azerbaijani university in exchange for a seat in parliament.

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(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)

Corruption is falling in Azerbaijan

DEC. 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Corruption is still rife in Azerbaijan but it is falling, Transparency International (TI) said in its 2013 Corruptions Perception Index.

The index is important as it is widely read and acts as a sort of early warning system over which way corruption levels are heading. For Azerbaijan, TI reckoned that things are improving.

Azerbaijan has climbed to 127th position in the 177 country index. This is still relatively low for the aspiring energy exporter–– it has Pakistan, Gambia and Mali for company — but is still an improvement on 139th position in 2012.

According to the data nearly 70% of Azerbaijanis think that the government is doing a decent job combating corruption.

Importantly, though, most people think corruption is still a problem.

(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)

Azerbaijan buys Asian securities

DEC. 3 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s Central Bank plans to buy $500m-$600m of Asian securities as part of its investment portfolio, local media quoted the Bank’s deputy chairman Avtandil Babayev as saying. Azerbaijan has developed a reputation as a big spender on foreign markets over the past few years with property, equity and debt purchases.

(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)

Petrol prices increase in Azerbaijan

DEC. 3 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s government increased the price of petrol by about a third, its first increase in seven years, media reported. It’s too early to say what impact the price rises will have on communities as they will come into force on Jan. 1 2014, but local media has already reported several small scale protests.

(News report from Issue No. 163, published on Dec. 4 2013)