News in brief

YOUNG VOLUNTEERS TO GET CERTIFICATES

The UN Young Volunteer Program is expected to hold a presentation ceremony of certificates to first volunteers in Azerbaijan. Besides 100 volunteers, the ceremony will be also attended by UN resident coordinator in Azerbaijan Ercan Murat, minister for youth and sports Abulfaz Garayev and other guests.

During the ceremony, the visitors will get acquainted with arrangements, the management group of young volunteers is going to implement in Azerbaijan in honor of 2001, the international year of volunteers.

WEB SITE FOR AZERBAIJAN GENOCIDE CHANGED

A web site containing information about the genocide of Azerbaijanis in Khojali has been changed. Now, the site is places at www.khojali.org.az.

The change came off owing to the financial support from some physical entities.

Earlier, the authors of the site, a group of post-graduates of the State Administration Academy, inserted the site in a free Russian Internet server due to financial constraints.

EIA FOR KALAMADDIN-MISHOVDAGH APPROVED

The state committee on ecology has approved the EIA, forwarded by Karasu Operating Company for the exploration drilling on the Kalamaddin-Mishovdagh prospect. The company told AssA-Irada Saturday that the committee had proposed that the EIA be put on public discussions, reportedly due in late March.

According to the company, over $170 billion will be invested in appraisal and exploratory drilling operations.

CASPIAN STILL SUBSIDING

The level of the Caspian has subsided 40-45 cm since 1995, while last year's indicator was 2 cm below 1999, the head of the "Khazar" center under the state committee for hydro-meteorology Amir Aliyev told AssA-Irada Tuesday.

According to him, level changes in the Caspian have been under observation since 1830 with the sea level both up and down. The latest considerable rise of 2.5 meters was seen in the period between 1978-1995. Forecasts show that the Caspian level is expected to rise 1 meters owing to global warming in 2015.

MAYOR DENIES SANCTION FOR CONSUMER RIGHTS ADVOCATES

The Union of Free Consumers of Azerbaijan has scheduled a demonstration for March 15, the International Day of consumers. The Union appealed to Mayor's office for sanction on February 5. However, no answer has arrived yet, chairman of the Union Ayyub Husseinov told AssA-Irada Tuesday.

According to him, similar actions are taken in the world annually. To date, Baku has hosted two street marches under the mottoes, "Stop deceiving consumers", "Expired goods to garbage", etc.

$1BN IN POPULATION's HANDS

According to the president of the Banking Association of Azerbaijan Mr. Zakir Nuriyev, if the Azerbaijan population invested its savings of some $1 billion in the economy, it could achieve considerable spin-off resulting in economic growth.

Mr. Nuriyev added that the volume of commercial bank credits has increased lately. In 2000, commercial banks provided credits totaling AZM2.3 trillion, or AZM6 billion over 1998, he said.

AZERBAIJAN ENTREPRENEURS CONFEDERATION INCLUDES OVER 600 MEMBERS

According to the president of the Azerbaijan Confederation of Entrepreneurs (Employers) Alakbar Mammadov, the organization includes over 600 private entities. In the past 2 months, some 40 legal and physical entities joined the Confederation.

12 representations of the Confederation operate in 12 regions of Azerbaijan. According to A. Mammadov, last year the confederation considered over 1,000 applications for legal aid, preparation of business plans, personnel training, etc. In Ganja, Ali-Bayramli, Guba, Sabirabad, etc. the confederation has organized courses for over 300 entrepreneurs.

CHEMICAL OUTPUT DOWN WITH REMAINDER UNCHANGED

In January of 2001, production of caustic soda reduced to 49%, while that of nitrogen and polymer roofing to 13% and 63% respectively. Besides, marketing problems showed a considerable growth too, as the remainder of caustic soda at warehouses exceeded its monthly output 6 times and of polyethylene 7 times.

RETAIL TURNOVER BOOM OWES PHYSICAL ENTITIES

In January of 2001, products totaling AZM967.2 billion, or 9.3% over 2000, were sold to the population through retail network. 26.3% of the goods occurred on trading organizations, 25.6% on fairs, 13.3% on markets and 34.8% on physical entities.

Trading surge in fairs made up 8.2% and in markets 6.7%. For physical entities, the indicator constituted 19.1%. As a result, a 88%-increase of retail turnover was owing to physical entities.

PRIVATE SECTOR EMPLOYS TWO-THIRDS OF ABLE-BODIED PEOPLE

According to the Azerbaijan Entrepreneurship Confederation, some 70% of the able-bodied population (nearly 2,600,000 people) are working in private sector of the economy. 82,000 physical entities are attending to entrepreneurial activities, including 47,400 in agriculture.

81,200 legal entities in business have been registered to date. Moreover, 29,600 state-owned enterprises have been privatized into joint stock companies and firms, the Confederation said.

SOME ECONOMIC ENTITIES OF RAILWAY OFFICE TO BE LIQUIDATED

The head of the Azerbaijan State Railway Office Ziya Mammadov has ordered to liquidate a number of economic entities of the "AzerDemiryolService" (Azerbaijan railway service) production unit since April 1.

The Office told AssA-Irada Saturday that the entities to be abolished include the 300th road and automobile station in Lankaran, the crushed stone plant in Khanlar and Baku enterprise of railway constructions.

ELECTRONIC TOKENS TO BE INTRODUCED SINCE LATE MARCH

The Baku Underground is expected to introduce electronic tokens since late March. According to the chairman of the underground Taghi Ahmadov, $170,000 worth of the tokens will be produced by the Kharkov (Ukraine) electronic plant.

Mr. Ahmadov added that the use of magnetic cards is also being planned on in the future.

1,326 UNEMPLOYED RECEIVE JOBS IN FEBRUARY

1,326 people were provided with jobs through 84 recruitment centers in 66 provinces in February, the head employment department told AssA-Irada Tuesday.

1,226 unemployed people were granted the unemployment status and 1,468 got unemployment benefits. Besides, 47 people were sent to refresher courses and 192 involved in payable community work.

Azernews

AssA-Irada