Privatization - only way to fight monopolies

Privatization is the only way to prevent monopolies in the country, president of the Entrepreneurs Confederation of Azerbaijan (ECA) Alakbar Mammadov told a conference, “Business climate in Azerbaijan: achievements and problems” at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Tuesday.

The privatization process in Azerbaijan is stalling, and monopolies currently control every sector of the country’s economy, which is a result of activities by supervising executive bodies aimed at limiting competition, he said.

The ECA president continued that monopolies are observed in imports, finance, crediting, advertisement and other sectors and have a particularly negative impact on advertising.

In 1997, $12 million worth of profits were made in this business, as compared to just $3 million last year, Mammadov said.

“This is due to the obstacles being created by the advertising department under the Mayor’s Office of Baku to entrepreneurs trying to place ads”.

Mammadov added the business climate in the country is also negatively affected by frequent rulings by courts in favor of state-owned entities, non-compliance with court rulings and a low level of business education.