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DEFENSE MINISTER LEAVES FOR NATO SESSION
Azeri Defense Minister, Colonel-General Safar Abiyev left for Brussels Monday to attend a defense ministers session of the Euro-Atlantic Cooperation Council due December 5-6 at the NATO head-quarters, Defense Ministry told Azernews Monday.
COMMUNISTS PREPARING FOR UNIFICATION
All communist parties active in Azerbaijan are expected to establish common legal and organizational framework for unification on the basis of one common platform.
The framework will be set up by the Coordinating Commission established by the Azerbaijan Communist Workers' Party (former Unified Communist Party) and the Azerbaijan Communist Party.
A statement signed by both party leaders says the meeting will also launch preparations for the unification congress of Azerbaijan's communist parties. All left-wing forces of the country have been invited to the Commission meeting.
DECEMBER 5 - INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEERS' DAY
The UN Volunteer Program has organized an exhibition on the occasion of the International Volunteers' Day. The exhibition is expected to open at the Sports and Concert Center of Baku at 3 p.m. December 5.
The exhibition will be dedicated to the volunteer movement in Azerbaijan, to 12 youth projects underway. It will present the opportunity of meeting with young volunteers, exchanging views, the UN Volunteer Program Baku Office told Azernews Monday.
CIS LABOR MIGRATION ISSUES DISCUSSED
Issues concerning the legal status of migrants and protection of labor markets from illegal migration were discussed at the 12th meeting of CIS Consultative Council on labor, migration and social security of the population, the Cabinet of Ministers told Azernews Saturday.
The meeting focused on collaboration in resolving unemployment problems as well. Also considered was the concept of establishing a common labor market within the Commonwealth and regulating labor force migration.
GUNS BEING IMPOUNDED
Guns and ammunition are being impounded from the population in Baku and on the countryside. For instance, in the last two days a resident of Baku Elkhan Mammadov has voluntarily turned in 4 grenades, 3 war-heads and a large-caliber machine gun, Interior Ministry told Azernews Monday.
A hand-made handgun and 50 sub-machine gun cartridges have been impounded from the Hovsan settlement. The Sabunchu district police have discovered and impounded a gun, a sub-machine-gun cartridge magazine and 33 various-caliber cartridges.
YOUNGSTERS INVOLVED IN STATE BUILDING
To make youngsters politically more active and attract it to state building are the objectives of the nationwide science conference "Role of youngsters in state building" due December 14, the Ministry of Youth and Sports told Azernews Saturday.
The conference is scheduled to be held at the Youth Tourist Center in Zagulba and attended by most active youngsters selected through regional conferences.
HANDICAPPED COMPLAIN ON GOVERNMENT's INDIFFERENCE
Chairman of the consultative council of the Society of the Garabagh War Handicapped Etimad Asadov told journalists Friday that the government, especially the Cabinet of Ministers and local executive power committees, are indifferent to the disabled. He said the handicapped had presented Prime Minister Artur Rasizadeh with a wheel-chair to remind him of their problems.
Unable to further ensure bureaucratic red-tape in solution of social problems, the disabled people have aired their grievances to the president. They demand a raise in pensions, tax benefits, and establishment of a special commission to attend to their problems and enforce a presidential decree of August 26, 1994.
If the demands are not complied within a month, the disabled people will launch a protest action - hunger strike, E. Asadov said.
TRADE IN RECESSION
As of early November 2000, the share of officially registered trade enterprises decreased from 29% in 1999 to 28.4%. For instance, it was impossible to prevent the undesirable processes by exercising control over the quality of products, tax collection and trade regulation. It should also be indicated that there was latent resistance on part of petty government officials interested in the abundance of small retail outlets.
In January-October 2000, goods totaling 8,656,500,000,000 manats, or 10% over 1999, were sold through retail network.
INVESTMENT IN FIXED ASSETS TARGET MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT
In 10 months of 2000, 3,802,000,000,000 manats, or 1.1% over 1999, was invested in fixed assets from all financial sources. The bulk of such investment, 82%, was made in the manufacturing sector.
47% of investments in fixed assets were foreign.
REMAINDER OF UNCLAIMED PRODUCTS DECLINE THANKS TO CRUDE
As of early November 2000, unclaimed products totaling 457 billion manats, 14% down to early October, remained unclaimed in warehouses of industrial enterprises, excluding small ones. The 72-billion-manat decrease was explained by the decline in crude oil volume stored by BP. At the same time, the remainder of unclaimed products has increased in some enterprises: chemical and petrochemical by 2.5%, mechanical engineering by 1.7%.
Two-thirds of total remainder fell on Baku and 19% on Sumgayit.
5 JOBLESS PER VACANCY
According to official statistics, as of early November 2000, there were 5 unemployed per vacancy. The total number of job-seekers is half a million, while only 46,200, or 1.1% of the able-bodied population, have the status of the unemployed.
Only one in twenty officially unemployed receives the unemployment allowance of 40,200 manats.
EUROPEAN GLOBALIZATION TO BE DISCUSSED AT ILO SESSION
European countries members of the International Labor Organization (ILO) are expected to focus on issues of globalization at an annual session due on December 12-15 in Geneva, Switzerland. Azerbaijan will be represented by the head of a department at the Ministry for Labor and Social Security Sevil Sattarzadeh, deputy chairman of the Confederation of Trade Unions Ilyas Aliyev and chairman of the Entrepreneurship Confederation of Azerbaijan Alakbar Mammadov.
NO POSITIVE TENDENCIES IN LIGHT INDUSTRY
Positive tendencies observed in different industrial sectors are not yet affecting the light industry. In 10 months of this year, production of cotton fabrics (a total of 130,000 square meters) has declined 51% to 1999, woolen fabrics (28,000 square meters) by 44%, knitted garments by 22%, while carpets by 22%.
The recession in production was accompanied with poor marketing. The remainder of cotton fabrics in warehouses exceeded an average monthly production volume 4.5 times, of knitted garments 14 times, and carpets 10 times.
EX-PATS GET PAID 16.5 TIMES MORE
In January-October 2000, an average monthly wage of expatriates in Azerbaijan constituted 3,382,600 manats (nearly $760). This is 16.5 times over an average wage in the country (204,100 manats, or $50). The highest local staff wages have been registered in the manufacturing sector and financial brokering, while the lowest in public health.
Salary differentiates throughout the country 3.6 times. For instance, as where in Baku an average monthly wage was 291,300 manats ($64), in Naftalan people get only 81,400 manats (below $18).
AVERAGE MONTHLY INCOME PER CAPITA $40.5
According to official statistics, in January-October, the nominal volume of monetary income of the population made up 14,708,000,000,000 manats. Calculated per capita, the figure constituted 1,856,800 manats, or 185,700 manats a month ($40.5).
Per capita income is half below the subsistence minimum.
GOV'T REPAYING ARREARS
According to a governmental source, the Ministry of Finance has agreed to repay 50 million manats to the International Bank of Azerbaijan in 2001 following credits issued by the bank in 1994 under a government guarantee. The total amount of the arrears constitutes 114 billion manats, of which 48 billion will be repaid in 2000, while the other 16 billion in 2002.
UNIVERSAL BANK TO BECOME OPERATOR OF LOANS PROJECT
The United Universal Joint Stock Bank (UUJSB) is expanding its functions, deputy minister for economics Oqtay Haqverdiyev told AssA-Irada Tuesday.
According to him, the UUJSB will operate the project on dissemination of state loans among the population, profit re-capitalization, conducting prize draws and storing securities.
The loans are expected to fetch at least 10 billion manats, which will be spent to cover the 2001 state budget deficit.
Azernews
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Issue No.49(179), 2000
CIS Minsk Summit HeldAzeri Army Capable Of Liberating GarabaghMoscow Values Friendship With BakuRomania To Mark UnificationFighting Caviar SmugglingNEWS DIGESTNATIONPARLIAMENT NEWSOPPOSITION NEWSNEWS IN BRIEFBUSINESSOIL & GAS NEWSARTS & CULTURE
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