The salaries of Azeri employees in educational institutions funded from the state budget were increased 25% from September 1 under a presidential decree. Minister of Education Misir Mardanov told reporters that the measure would serve to the improved welfare of a great number of teachers. He said that the presidential decree would cover up to 400,000 people working in all fields of education, except higher education. “By issuing such a decree on the eve of the start of a new academic year, th...... полностью

Azerbaijan’s leading cellular operator, Azercell, continues its Golden Number and Telephone campaign which started late in 2007. Taking into account great interest of the subscribers participating in the campaign, Azercell Telecom LLC has started to present a new series of golden numbers to the campaign’s subscribers. For example, whereas only those who bought such cell phones as Samsung SGH-i710, Samsung SGH-G600, Nokia 6500, Nokia 6120, Sony-Ericsson P1, and Sony-Ericsson K810 have so far be...... полностью

Bakcell Company, the first cellular operator in Azerbaijan, has updated its website. New design of the company’s Internet resource, www.bakcell.com, fully complies with the image of Bakcell. The new design of the web-page is based on three key values: accessibility, cutting-edge technology and simplicity. Owing to the up-to-date Java script technology applied in developing the site, navigation of the site has been improved, fast and handy information access provided, and the titles panel allow...... полностью

The sales prices of six newspapers published in Azerbaijan were increased from September 1. Paper owners explained their move with a rise in the prices of printing materials and gross expenses. The opposition Azadlig, Bizim Yol and Baku Khabar, as well as sports publications Football+, Het Trick and Champion are currently selling for 40 Gapiks (about 50 cents).*... читать

A meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organization of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA) started in Baku on Tuesday. Speaking at the meeting, head of the President’s Office department for political analysis and provision of information, Elnur Aslanov, said that the Azerbaijani authorities believed there were favorable conditions for the development of the country’s media. Aslanov said the role of information was assuming a global scale. At the same time, he regretted that information was ...... полностью

The wages of Azerbaijan’s healthcare workers have been increased on a presidential decree. Under the decree, monthly salaries of those working in healthcare institutions funded from the state budget increased on average by 25% from September 1.*... читать

The US Department of State will implement a new program for young teachers and pensioners working in Azerbaijani universities. Winners of the contest to be held within the program will undergo an intern in a chosen field in the United States within five months. Those willing to participate in the contest can submit their documents to the Baku office of the American Council for Collaboration in Education and Language Study (ACCELS) by August 29.*... читать

The world Turkic festival will be held in Chicago, U.S., on Saturday and Sunday. A dance group operating within the Houston-Azerbaijan organization will for the first time join the event during which the Turkic nations’ cultures will be demonstrated. The dance group, which is engaged in propagandizing Azerbaijan’s national dances in the United States, will perform with seven national dances at the festival.*... читать

A monument to Azerbaijan’s great thinker and poet Nizami Ganjavi, who lived from 1141 to 1209, will be erected in Hungary, Mayor of the Ganja city Eldar Azizov said. The chief architect and artist of Ganja have left for Hungary on a working trip. A monument to a Hungarian poet will be erected in Ganja as well.*... читать

The number of those who choose Azerbaijan’s leading cellular provider Azercell continues to grow. During the first seven months of 2008, the number of the company’s subscribers increased by 500,000. Today, Azercell, with its 3.5 million clientele, covers the entire territory of the country and offers the highest quality communication services. While commenting on this achievement, Azercell Telecom General Manager Halim Ates said: “We are growing constantly in the conditions of tough competit...... полностью

About ten political columnists and journalists of several influential US publications have arrived in Azerbaijan. During the visit organized by the Azerbaijan Diplomacy Academy, the US media representatives will keep in spotlight the political and economic changes taking place in Azerbaijan, economic development in the country, as well as the living conditions of citizens. The US journalists will also attend an international conference entitled “How do Azerbaijanis and Americans see each othe...... полностью

Two Azerbaijani wrestlers won silver medals at the Olympics in Beijing on Tuesday. Greco-Roman wrestler Vitali Rahimov, who was a step away from victory, lost to his Russian opponent, Islambek Albiyev, in the 66 kg final. Rahimov had proceeded to the final after beating a wrestler from China, the Romanian world champion, the two-time Olympic champion from Bulgaria in the quarter final, and his Kazakh opponent in the semi-final. Another Azerbaijani wrestler, Rovshan Bayramov, who competed i...... полностью

Azerbaijan’s trade turnover with Germany is growing, with both imports and exports posting growth in the first four months of 2008. The volume of goods the South Caucasus republic exported to Germany in January-April reached 584.5 million euros, or 135% over the same period of last year, the German embassy in Baku said. Imports of German commodities to Azerbaijan increased as well. The figure rose from 143.3 million euros in 2007 to 153.3 million euros this year, or a 7% increase.*... читать

The tourism season in Azerbaijan has been successful this year, the minister of culture and tourism said. Abulfas Garayev told reporters that in 2008 the number of tourists in recreation centers of the country has increased 10-12% as compared to last year. He also stressed certain problems related to the ongoing construction work on the main roads leading to the country’s regions of tourism importance. Garayev said that despite the problem, the number of tourists in Azerbaijan had reached 280...... полностью

Azerbaijan and Georgia are developing the first-ever joint online portal on their export potential. The portal will be presented after the publication of a catalogue on Azerbaijan’s export potential. The website to be designed in lieu of the catalogue will be supplied with a search system. The catalogue to be presented in early September includes approximately 70 Azerbaijani companies. The key goal of publishing the export catalogue is to boost the competitiveness of local goods and seek new m...... полностью

Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR is considering signing a new production sharing agreement on the development of the onshore Balakhany oil field, SOCAR said Monday. But the source did not spell out the company with which talks are being held. 10 wells will be drilled at the unique field in 2008, compared to 13 wells drilled in 2007. The crude extracted at the Balakhany-Sabunchi-Ramana field is used to produce rare freeze-resistant types of oils. Oil is produced there from relatively insi...... полностью

A human skeleton was discovered in Caspian waters near a village in Azerbaijan’s Siyazan district on Monday evening. Siyazan Prosecutor Hasan Hanifayev said the law enforcers were looking into the possibility that the skeleton belonged to one of the pilots of a MIG 29 fighter jet which crashed in the Shurabad section of the sea on January 29. The theory was put forth after an initial check-up by forensic experts. The facts will be established after the samples taken from the bones are genetica...... полностью

Azerbaijan is strengthening by the year its energy security that is considered part of the country’s national security, an energy executive says. 22 billion KWt/hr of electricity was produced in the South Caucasus republic in 2007, with production to reach 25 billion KWt/hr by 2013, vice-president of the state-owned energy producer, Azerenergy, said. Marlen Asgarov said construction of power plants will be completed by the year-end in the country’s third largest city, Sumgayit, in the central ...... полностью

Chairman of the Caucasus Clerical Office (CCO) Sheikhulislam Haji Allahshukur Pashazada received on Tuesday prominent US cleric, the Jewish leader of Los Angeles, Rabbi Abraham Kuper. Pashazada said that tolerance in Azerbaijan was on a high level, noting that suitable conditions for independent activity of shrines have been provided in the country. He said that synagogues, churches and praying houses were being constructed and people of different creeds were holding their religious ceremonies ...... полностью

A senior Azerbaijani official has said appointing a media ombudsman in the country was not a hot issue on the agenda. The head of the President’s Office socio-political department, Ali Hasanov, emphasized that media watchdog Press Council was currently in charge of regulating relations of the media with citizens and government agencies. The Council has begun to gain more public confidence of late. Hasanov said a separate law On the Press Council may be passed in the country in the future. “I...... полностью

The 133rd anniversary of the Azerbaijani press was marked across the country on Tuesday. Azerbaijan’s first newspaper, Akinchi, was published on July 22, 1875 by Hasan Bay Zardabi, who was one of the greatest enlighteners in the country. A total of 56 issues of the newspaper came out until September 1877. There are about 2,500 journalists in Azerbaijan. Although some 3,500 mass media have been registered, only 650 of them, including about 400 newspapers, some 50 electronic mass media and 20...... полностью

87 Azerbaijani peacekeepers who have completed their mission in Iraq returned home Monday night. Talking to journalists at the Heydar Aliyev International Airport of Baku, the commander of the peacekeeping contingent Sadig Yahyazada said that the Azerbaijani military men were serving with their US counterparts. They were guarding Iraq’s Hadid water reservoir and the US military base located in the area. The Azerbaijani servicemen shared experience with their US counterparts within six months. ...... полностью

A major Honda automobile center opened in Azerbaijan on Friday. The world-famous brand is now available through YenimotoR LLC, the official and exclusive distributor in the country of Honda Motor Co. Ltd, the manufacturer of Honda automobiles. The newly-built center, which includes a section for car sales, maintenance and service centers, and a large warehouse of spare parts, was commissioned off the Baku-Sumgayit highway, according to advertising agency Publicis Azerbaijan. The YenimotoR dir...... полностью

President Ilham Aliyev has said Azerbaijan should make investment primarily in friendly countries. “As the country’s economic opportunities increase, we are investing in other states. A number of countries worldwide are expecting investment from Azerbaijan today,” Aliyev said in a meeting of Azerbaijani ambassadors in Baku on Monday. He said that in the past year alone, $2.5 billion has been invested in neighboring Turkey and Georgia, and the placement of funds in overseas markets continues....... полностью

Almost 19 million tons of oil were produced from the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) fields in the Azerbaijan sector of the Caspian Sea in the first half of this year. The volume is 13.8% over January-June 2007, according to the BP-operated consortium Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC) which is tapping the field. Slightly over 3m tons of the oil was extracted from Chirag. Output from the field has increased 12.1%. Production made up 504,446 tons in June alone. Production at the Aze...... полностью

Azerbaijan’s state energy firm SOCAR and Hungarian MOL oil and gas company will step up cooperation on NABUCCO, a European Union-backed natural gas pipeline project. Talks on the project to export gas from the Caspian and Central Asia regions to European markets were held during SOCAR president Rovnag Abdullayev’s recent meeting with the MOL Group Chief Executive Officer Gyorgy Mosonyi. Mosonyi voiced confidence that Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany’s visit to Baku this week would c...... полностью

The Azerbaijani government and Russian giant Gazprom will launch “detailed dialog” on gas purchases from the South Caucasus republic in the coming days, Russian ambassador in Baku Vasili Istratov said Tuesday. Istratov said the terms for the imports would be determined during the upcoming discussions. He reminded that the issue was high on agenda of the top-level talks held during Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s official visit to Azerbaijan last week. The two countries’ presidents support...... полностью

The conference of the Council of Europe member states’ culture ministers will be held in Baku on December 2, the organization’s official visiting Baku said. Head of the CE Ministerial Committee’s Directorate of Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage, Robert Palmer, told reporters on Tuesday that a cross-cultural dialogue would be high on the agenda of the event. The conference will be also attended by the culture ministers of the non-member countries.*... читать

A representative of the Azerbaijani Diaspora in Ukraine has been appointed to the post of Vice-President of the country’s state-run Ukrtransstroy construction company, according to the Ukrainian media reports. Isa Aliyev will be responsible for the company’s cooperation with Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Iran, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. The Ukrtransstroy company, which incorporates 51 enterprises, is carrying out construction work in Bulgaria, Syria, Iraq, Finland, Argentine, R...... полностью

A large-scale project on establishing a circular electric power exchange system between Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Georgia and Russia is under consideration. Turkmenistan is also seeking to join the initiative, Azerbaijani Minister of Energy and Industry Natig Aliyev has said. “Creating the system will allow not only to exchange electricity but also to export it to Europe. Azerbaijan will thus gain access to the Turkish market,” he said after talks with Iranian Energy Minister Parviz Fattah in B...... полностью