News in Brief

Cabinet move
Azerbaijan's President, Heydar Aliyev, decreed on February 13 to move Yaqub Abdulla oglu Eyyubov from the position of Deputy Prime Minister to the position of First Deputy Prime Minister.

OSCE MG co-chairmen to visit conflict region
A regular trip of OSCE Minsk Group (MG) co-chairmen to the conflict region will take place in March-May. The US ambassador Ross Wilson has advised the media that the exact date of the trip is still to be defined.
Break in co-chairmen's regional trips has to do with the presidential elections in Armenia, according to the ambassador.
Previously, the MG co-chairmen met the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents within the informal CIS summit in Kiev last month.

Bashkird delegation due
A governmental delegation from the Bashkortostan Autonomous Republic of the Russian Federation is expected to arrive in Baku on a working visit. The Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers has advised AssA-Irada that the delegation, comprising representatives of both the Bashkird government and private sector, will familiarize itself with the activity of Azerbaijani industrial enterprises and study opportunities for setting up new joint ventures. Private chemical companies from Bashkortostan are mainly interested in the Azerbaijani chemical industry.
The Bashkird delegation plans to hold meetings with Azerbaijani Prime Minister Artur Rasizada, First Deputy Prime Minister Abbas Abbasov, Minister of Economic Development Farhad Aliyev and president of the Azarkimya joint-stock company Fikrat Sadiqov.

Caspian status meeting postponed again
A meeting of heads of the working groups of five Caspian states - Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Turkmenistan - which had to be held in Baku on February 18 has been postponed again.
"The technical aspects of the meeting have not been properly developed. The meeting will most probably take place late in February," a spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has told AssA-Irada. This is the third time the meeting has been put off.

Rehab, prosthetic center launched in countryside
A regional rehab and prosthetic center with modern equipment meeting international standards has been put into service in Ganca. Stationary sections, training hall, production workshop and other divisions operate within the center. An AssA-Irada Ganca correspondent reports that the Minister for Labor and Social Security Ali Nagiyev, head of the International Red Cross Organization Baku office, Floran Kornas, Ganca city's executive power head Eyvaz Babayev attended the opening ceremony, where they attached great importance to the center.

Saudi Arabia donates sacrifice gifts
The Saudi-based International Islamic Youth Assembly held a sacrifice-killing ceremony at a slaughterhouse in Narimanov district of Baku on February 11-13 to mark the Qurban Bayrami (Sacrifice holiday). Attending the ceremony were Saudi ambassador to Azerbaijan Ali Hasan Cafar, head of the assembly's Azerbaijan office Arif Abdulla, and representatives of the Azerbaijani State Committee on Refugees.
The Saudi Arabian humanitarian organizations slaughtered about 1,000 head of livestock to distribute it to the needy people.  According to the Saudi ambassador, his country has decided to send shortly 5,000 of livestock slaughtered during this year's Hajj season to Azerbaijan.

First Russian-Azeri online dictionary
The Azeronline company offers new service for professional translators and those who wish to learn the Azeri language. Azeronline has placed 5,000-term Russian-Azeri online dictionary at http://dict.azeronline.com. Being the first Russian-Azeri online dictionary in the world, it significantly eases translation process.

WB mission to discuss social assistance project
A World Bank (WB) mission is visiting Azerbaijan on February 17-22 to discuss reactivation of the Pension and Social Assistance Reforms Project. Led by Ms. Alexandra Posarac, senior economist of the WB human development department, the mission comprises Mr. Michael Mills, principal economist, Ms. Gonul Degirmendereli, MIS specialist, and Kamil Malikov, operations officer of the bank's Country Office. The delegation is expected to hold meetings with the State Social Protection Fund, Ministry of Labor and Social Security, State Statistics Committee and other government agencies.

Swiss expert conducts workshop for NBA staff
An expert from the International Studies Institute of the Swiss SECO organization, Hans Genberg, conducted a week-long workshop-lecture for employees of the National Bank of Azerbaijan (NBA). A spokesman for the bank has told AssA-Irada that the undertaking was held as part of a technical assistance to the NBA. The workshop aimed to offer recommendations relating to the use of economic-mathematic models in monetary management and exchange rate policy.

Import-export ratio $503m in the black
The total foreign trade turnover of Azerbaijan was $3,833bn in 2002. Of this sum, $894m was with CIS countries, while other nations constituted $2,939bn. The press service of the State Statistics Committee has informed AssA-Irada that imports amounted to $1,665m against exports valued at $2,168bn. Thus, the nett export was $503m positively.

Heads of GUUAM commerce, industry chambers meet
Heads of GUUAM (Georgia, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Moldova) chambers of commerce and industry are due to gather in Kiev, the Ukraine, on February 23-24. Sources the meeting will discuss changes to the regulations of the council and ways of broadening commercial relations among member states of the GUUAM Council.
Representing Azerbaijan at the meeting will be head of the Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Suleyman Tatliyev.

Baku, Tehran to sign gas transmission deal
Azerbaijan and Iran signed a memorandum at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission in Baku in October 2002 to transfer 350m cubic meters of gas to the Naxcivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan. To this end a working group of the Azariqaz joint-stock company is currently discussing the issue in Tehran. Azariqaz has informed AssA-Irada that details of the agreement on conveying gas from Iran to Naxcivan will be agreed during the talks and signed in March.

Budgetary incomes increase year-on year, but fail prognosis
The press service of the Azerbaijani Tax Ministry has advised AssA-Irada that the total amount of transfers to the state budget through the ministry increased in 2002 by AZM502bn, or 17.3 per cent, including a rise of AZM326.1bn, or 24 per cent, from SOCAR and AZM180.4bn, or 11.6 per cent, from the non-oil sector. Despite the increase, AZM3,400bn, or 93.9 per cent of the forecast AZM3,620bn,  has been entered in the state budget last year. In 2002, state-owned enterprises paid AZM2,106bn (96 per cent of the target) to the state budget instead of the planned AZM2,195bn. In the same timeframe the private sector transferred funds worth AZM1,293bn (90.8 per cent) against the target of AZM1,425bn, including AZM679bn (95.6 per cent) from local private persons against AZM AZM710bn.

European Tobacco to produce new cigarette
The European Tobacco plant is planning to start shortly to produce a new cigarette, Slims. So, the number of cigarettes types produced by European Tobacco will reach 24, a spokesperson for the plant has informed AssA-Irada. European Tobacco produced cigarettes totaling AZM163.94bn last year. Overall, the plant has paid AZM43.3bn to the state budget and non-budget funds.