News digest

BYELORUSSIA's PREMIER EXPECTED ON VISIT

Byelorussia's Prime Minister Vladimir Yermoshin is expected to pay an official visit to Baku on August 8-9 to sign a number of agreements on avoiding double taxation, cooperation in standardization, etc., a source from the Cabinet of Ministers told Azernews Tuesday. The Byelorussian delegation is expected to meet with President Aliyev, Premier A. Rasizadeh and Speaker M. Alasgarov.

MINISTRY FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LAUNCHED

The Ministry for Economic Development started operating Monday in a building formerly occupied by the Ministry of Trade, its spokesman Agajan Ahmadov told Azernews. According to him, the minister for economic development has appointed Karam Hasanov as director of the privatization department, Ulvu Seyidzadeh as director of the international relations and foreign investments department and Elchin Nadirov as director of the law department. Heads of the other two departments and a deputy minister will be named shortly. K. Hasanov used to be deputy minister for state property, E. Nadirov head of the law department of the ministry and U. Seyidzadeh represented Azerbaijan at the World Bank.

WILL MILLI MEJLIS RATIFY LERIK-DANIZ PSA?

The recent conflict between Azerbaijan and Iran in the Caspian has called into question the ratification of the Lerik-Daniz Prodution Sharing Agreement (PSA) by the Azerbaijan parliament. The contract was signed by SOCAR and Mobil in April 1999, but has not been ratified yet. SOCAR announced during the Caspian Oil and Gas exhibition in Baku in June that the agreement would be ratified in fall. In the wake of the latest incident in the Caspian, SOCAR has declined to confirm the timing of the ratification. Lerik-Daniz is located 20km south of the Araz-Alov-Sharg prospect, the very bone of contention between Tehran and Baku. ExxonMobil (operator) holds a 30% stake in the agreement, SOCAR 50%, while 20% is still vacant.