Business

Azeri factories for textile show

Fourteen Azeri companies, including the sewing factory, Baku shoes factory and Atropaten commercial firm, are expected to take part in the 11th Baltic Textile international trade exhibition, due in Vilnius, Lithuania on 11-15 September.

Sewing, weaving, shoes, leather products, raw materials and manufacturing equipment will be demonstrated in the show. A conference on marketing policy and workshops will also be held during the exhibition.

New int'l tourist center

Samkir province in northwest Azerbaijan is poised to become an international tourism center along the historic Great Silk Road in two years, department chief of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography, Ph.D. in History Qosqar Qosqarli has told AssA-Irada. Initial agreement was reached in a meeting of the head of the local executive body Aslan Aslanov with the US archeologists, who visited Azerbaijan in mid-August. The Narinqala Castle in Samkir will be revived to house the Museum of Country Studies with support from the US archeologists. All historic and cultural monuments in the province will be conserved into the disposal of tourists.

What's more, Azeri and foreign companies will build a hotel consistent with international standards in Samkir.

70 small enterprises to be privatized

The Department for Privatization of State Property under the Ministry of Economic Development has decreed to privatize 70 small state-run enterprises and installations totalling 1360.6mln manat in July, according to the Ministry.

Meanwhile, measures have been taken to repay debts, as 1205.7mln manat with overdue arrears was transferred to the state budget in July from privatization of small state-run enterprises. 133 agreements to lease state-owned immovable property have been signed, while 83 properties were put for privatization. 1552.5mln manat was transferred to the state budget from privatization of leased state property and 846.4mln manat from leasing. Land plots of 8 enterprises were privatized and three agreements on their leasing were reached last month. 428.1mln manat was transferred to the state budget from privatization of land plots.

Media's grace period to go on

Chief of the President's Office Socio-Political Department Ali Hasanov has told journalists that privileges for media will be extended beyond 2005, when they would be naturally suspended, especially for media outlets in the red. Since no changes have been introduced to the tax legislation, the taxes paid by media will be recovered at the end of each year. A program is ready to loan media, which will be forwarded to the Ministry of Economic Development following a presidential decree, Mr. Hasanov said, declining to specify the volume of the aid.

Mobile operators get blow

The Ministry of Economic Development made a statement last week accusing Azerbaijan’s major and only operators, Azercell and Bakcell, of plotting for “a lull monopolization agreement”.

Its Anti-Monopoly Department has recently found conversation tariffs by Azerbaijan’s mobile operators Azercell and Bakcell consistently rising in its recent probes.

In spite of the growing number of subscribers, the two have raised key mobile tariffs several times, citing the sliding manat value against US dollar.

The Ministry is preparing proposals for the development of the competitive environment to prevent monopolization and better economic legislation and services by the nation's mobile communication providers, Azercell and Bakcell. Also in stock is the formation of a tariff policy favorable for mobile phone users and provision of technologies.

There hasn’t been competition in the Azeri market, with some cases impeding progress. Since there are only two mobile communication providers, which offer the same conditions, there is a lull monopolization agreement between them rather than healthy competition, the department has explained.

All this has spoiled the quality of services in the mobile area, with deteriorating communication, especially in rush hours.

The telephone conversation index of Azercell reported 105.8 percent between April 2001 and July 2002, to the consumer price index of 102.1 and public service cost index of 99.4 percent.

Bakcell’s index represented 102.1 percent in January-July this year, or more than the consumer price and paid service indexes of 101.2 and 100 percent respectively.

Currently, mobile communication tariffs are higher in Azerbaijan than in its neighbors.

Mobile subscribers are charged more in Azerbaijan, as one minute talk time here is twice as expensive as in Georgia’s Geocell and Magti, three times in the Ukraine’s Kiivstar and 1.7 times in Russia’s North Caucasus GSM.

Third operator?

Some speculate that the Ministry’s move is nothing more but an endeavor to pave the way for a third mobile operator, whose presence in Azerbaijan has been negotiated for many years. The local daily Zerkalo writes about the third operator’s advantage and readiness to offer up-to-date technologies and minimum tariffs, without disclosing any names.

Bakcell has declined to comment on the Ministerial statement, while Azercell said its tariffs policy didn’t depend on the operator, but is driven by the tax system, the cost of international calls and Azeri manat’s inflation.

Baku Steel ads alarm press

The country’s leading construction firms have said they prefer Ukraine or Russia made steel bars to those made by Baku Steel in a survey by Turan news agency.

Among these construction companies are the Baku Construction and Development Department, Global Systems and New Line Technology.

Meanwhile, local media has been accusing Baku Steel Company of "pursuing a discriminatory policy in advertisement".

On Monday, division chief of the pro-opposition Yeni Musavat daily Vusal Qasimli blamed Baku Steel Company head Paolo Parviz for executing orders from the Establishment.

The accusations came after Baku Steel decided to suspend ads to the newspapers that Qasimli called independent. The Yeni Musavat dubbed the move to stripe the independent press of its main source of income restrictions on the freedom of speech.