Business

FIRST AZERBAIJAN MICRO-FINANCING CONFERENCE HELD IN BAKU

By Arslan Abbas & Sevinc Heydarova Azernews Contributor

The First Azerbaijan Micro-Financing Conference was held in the Crescent Beach Hotel of Baku Thursday.

William Holbrook, the Head of Mercy Corps Azerbaijan office, opened the conference and thanked its organizers and participants. He said the main aim was to work out the key principles and rules of micro-finance programs, to determine the control and regulation standards of micro-finance, to improve micro-credit procedures, etc. He also said they would consider women's participation in micro-finance procedures and the issues of management. He said 43 organizations were taking part in the conference, including 22 humanitarian non-governmental organizations, 6 local commercial banks, 3 diplomatic representatives, 3 ministries, 2 private companies, and 7 donors.

Ali Hasanov, Vice-Premier, head of the State Committee for Refugees and IDPs, said micro-crediting has been in Azerbaijan since 1996. Over 20 programs have been implemented since then.

He said the government was paying much attention to the issue. e.g, from the $10 million borrowed by the government from the World Bank $2 million has been spent on supporting refugees and IDPs through micro-credit programs. Moreover, the government has allocated $250,000 to the state committee for micro-crediting for those people. President Aliyev ordered on August 22 and September 7 to allocate funds from the Oil Development Fund to help the vulnerable social groups.

Ross Wilson, US Ambassador to Azerbaijan, said he had become familiar with the process of micro-financing in several regions such as Nakhchivan, Barda and Ganja. He said the government could take steps to further improve the micro-financing sector.

Several local and foreign officials involved in the process took part in the conference.

William McKinney, the USAID coordinator in Azerbaijan, thanked the Azerbaijan government for close attention being paid to macro-financing programs.

Mr. Grzegorz Galuzek, director of the Micro-financing Center for Central and Eastern Europe and CIS countries, also delivered a report at the conference.

It was decided to set up a Coordination Unit led by Mercy Corps to carry out work on establishing this Association. Grezergoz Glauzek called on all organizations in Azerbaijan to become members of the Micro Finance Institute.

Fifteen programs of micro-financing are being implemented in Azerbaijan, providing financial aid to 14, 909 businessmen. The amount of a micro-credit ranges between $50 and 1,000, and the amount of a small credit from $1,000 to 30,000. The term is 4 to 12 months. The credits are being provided with 1-5% interest rate.

DISCUSSION OF 2002 DRAFT BUDGET DELAYING

The discussion of the draft law "On state budget 2002" is delaying. Thus, on October 15 it was to be forwarded to the Milli Mejlis for discussion, which, however, has been postponed. Nonetheless, despite the delay the draft will be adopted before the end of this year.

LAB TO INSPECT CONSUMER GOODS

A laboratory for a technical, analytical, chemical, toxicological, and micro-biological inspection of goods has been established under the Ministry for Economic Development. The measure follows conclusion of agreements with producers of up-to-date devices to detect toxic elements, pesticides, nitrates, nitrites, etc. These devices will be delivered to Azerbaijan shortly.

Now, the center runs a Scientific Research Institute for Food Industry and the central sanitary food laboratory. Work is underway to secure their full operation.

The center grants origin certificates for exported goods, with 273 certificates issued so far.

WORKSHOP ON LABOR RELATIONS HELD

A one-day seminar "Regulation of labor relations" was held at the National Confederation of Entrepreneurial Organizations last Wednesday. The confederation specialists spoke of labor agreements, democratization of the labor legislation in conformity with the requirements of the International Labor Organization, employer-employee relationship, etc. The seminar was attended by entrepreneurs, businessmen, specialists, and representatives of the government.

BP TRANSFERS IMPORTANT SOCIAL FACILITIES TO RESIDENTS OF SHONGAR SETTLEMENT

bp, on behalf of Inam partners announced Friday that it had transferred important social facilities to the authorities of the Shongar settlement in Baku. Among these is the newly-built sewer system meeting international standards. The company has also upgraded local pumping equipment, which enables stable water-supply to residents of the locality. bp then refurbished 1n 18km pipeline stretching from Mushfig to Shongar, where a 920km section of the conduit has been replaced.

The entire work is funded by bp.

TRANSPORT AND TELECOM INDICES UP

The volume of passenger transports in 9 months of this year has risen to 668.9 million people, which is by 2.8% over last year.

Even greater was the surge in the volume of freight traffic (by 16.1%), as 69.5 million tons of cargoes were transported from January till September. 54% of the traffic occurred on automobile transport, 18.2% by pipelines, 16.8% by the railway, and 11% by sea.

Communication enterprises have rendered services totaling AZM591.7 billion to organizations and population, which is 12.6% over last year's.

LICENSES TO CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES FETCH AZM4BN TO STATE BUDGET

Over AZM4 billion has been contributed to the state budget since 1998 following the issue of licenses to local and foreign construction companies, according to a spokesman for the state committee for construction and architecture Azer Khanlarov. He said AZM120-200 million a month is transferred to the state budget through this channel.

$8MLN INVESTED IN «GARADAGH CEMENT»

By Anar Jabrayilli Azernews Staff Writer

Over $8 million has been invested in the reconstruction of separate structural units, mounting of new equipment and improving the quality of cement by the "Garadagh Cement" joint stock company.

The investment in 2000 constituted $4.3 million, while in the 6 months of 2001 it has amounted to $3.75 million.

Also growing is the production volume, which surged 1.5 times in 2000 as compared to 1999 to constitute 246,000 tons. 267,000 tons of cement, or twice as much as in the same period of last year, has already been produced this year. It is planned to hike production to 400,000 tons this year.

Production is expected to reach 900,000 tons in 2004 and a million tons in 2005. $23 million will be invested in the JSC in the coming 5 years.

Dividends due in 2005

Although Azerbaijan's cement plant was converted into the "Garadagh Cement" joint stock company and privatized in 1999 through an investment competition, its shareholders have not received any dividends yet. The plant's Azeri shareholders, some 14%, are not expected to get them sooner than in 2007.

However, if economic reforms in Azerbaijan are successful, it may take place in 2005, based on the calculations carried out in cooperation with foreign experts. This is explained by the fact that so far the plant has been repaying its outstanding debts.

Therefore, a positive balance is not anticipated any time soon.

Utilizing oil wastes

Garadag-Cement is going to utilize oil refining wastes instead of the natural gas used at present. The measure is expected to halve production costs. According to him, the plant is having to pay AZM200 per cubic meter of used gas, which makes the product much more expensive.

The plant is currently in talks with a number of oil refineries. The equipment enabling the use of both gas and oil refining wastes has been installed at the plant. Most of the plants owned by "Holcim" company, including Garadag-Cement, are powered with oil wastes.

86.003% of shares is are owned by Swiss "Holsim". The remaining 13.9619% of shares is owned by physical entities, while 0.0351% - by the company itself. Of 1,187 shareholders 1,185 are physical and 2 legal entities.