Azerbaijan has announced the beginning of the post-oil period and the transition to a new stage of important reforms, writes the local weekly Region Plus. Speaking at a conference dedicated to the results of the second year of the implementation of the State Program on socio-economic development of the regions in 2014-2018, President Ilham Aliyev pointed out that now factors of sustainable development will become reforms aimed at the development of the non-oil sector, the production of export-oriented production and reduction of dependence on imports. This work will be carried out at an accelerated pace in order to minimize the negative effects on the population of the fourfold reduction in oil prices. It was previously expected that the post-oil period in Azerbaijan would start after 30-40 years, and the income from the Southern Gas Corridor, which is to be implemented within 2-3 years, would compensate for the decline of oil production to a certain extent. However, the situation in the world oil market is forcing the country to look for new methods of economic development in a very short time.
Above all, there is the adoption of additional measures to improve the business and investment environment, ensuring complete transparency of the economic and financial sectors, tax and customs authorities, extension of the tax base, proper record keeping and statistics. It is necessary to rely on the development of businesses engaged in the non-oil sector. There was a decision on the allocation of over 70 million AZN from the state treasury to the National Entrepreneurship Support Fund. Full-scale privatization was planned of the old production facilities that are still in state ownership, which could become a basis for the creation of new enterprises.
A lot of businesses were created in various commodity groups in the country over the previous years, but there is still an import element in the final product in many positions that affects its price. Thus, the presence of an external factor is particularly felt in food production. Despite the fact that huge funds are allocated in the country for the development of agriculture, large-scale infrastructure and land reclamation projects are being implemented; elevators and refrigerators are being constructed, the retail prices of many local products have increased due to the devaluation. It was discovered that companies have been forced to increase prices, as they import fertilizers, animal feed and chemicals from abroad. The President set the task of revealing the "blind spots" in the production chain and attracting entrepreneurs to remove them. It is proposed to increase purchasing prices for raw materials, additional investments in the revival of traditional Azerbaijani crops such as tea and cotton to stimulate the development of certain areas of the agricultural sector, in particular the production of cotton. Today there is an acute issue of lack of production of packaging materials in the country in the necessary quantities. The country depends 50% on foreign materials. New pasteboard plants are to be built. Enterprises will be provided state support, loans, and their products will be proposed to domestic producers.
A system of export promotion will be established in the country as soon as possible. It will imply the provision of incentives to entrepreneurs who produce competitive products and supply them to the world market. In addition, the State Customs Committee informed the publication that an increase of duties and taxes on the import of a number of goods already produced in the country is expected in order to protect the domestic market. At the same time, it is proposed to reduce customs duties on the import of certain raw materials to extend domestic production. First of all, these measures relate to the sphere of the agro-industrial complex and processing industry. All these measures should ultimately stimulate the attraction of additional investments and increase economic activity in the country, and the main thing is to create new jobs, as unemployment is threatening to become the most important damage caused by the fall in oil prices, the publication reports.
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One of the problems in agriculture, a lack of native seeds, is being solved in Karachay-Cherkessia. According to the local newspaper Republic Day, a factory for the production of seed corn, sunflowers, soybeans and wheat, as well as a logistics center for the processing, storage and packing of vegetables and grains is to appear in Karachaevo-Cherkessia.
Construction began in the spring of 2015, and today about 80% is complete. The plant will operate according to the best European technologies. The equipment was ordered from Europe and the United States. The new seed production plant will relieve farmers and agricultural producers from the North Caucasus Federal District who depend on imports of planting materials and reduce the cost of seeds threefold. The total capacity of the plant is 10,000 tons of seeds a year. According to the publication, it will allow seeds to be sown on about 500,000 hectares of land for domestic production. The construction of a logistics center consisting of three grain silos with a total capacity of up to 80,000 tons of grain is also about to be completed.The company will purchase, process and sell the products of local farmers, as well as provide them with services for storage and refining products. Since the purchase price of the processed product is higher than that of the crop sold "from the field", the proposal must be profitable and convenient for farmers. The seed selection and production center will employ up to 150 people. A full-scale launch of the company is expected in the last quarter of this year.
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A system of collection, storage and disposal of household waste is intended to be established in Ingushetia. According to Ingushetia, representatives of the Committee on Ecology and Natural Resources of the republic noted that the problem will be solved in several stages. It is planned to organize garbage collection in the Republic at the first stage in compliance with the norms of sanitary protection. The second stage is the organization of proper storage facilities. And the last stage is its utilization. Negotiations with the private investor who organized the work of the waste processing plant are being conducted. The construction of the plant was launched in the framework of the federal target program South of Russia, but it hasn't been completed.
The North Ossetia newspaper reports that a waste sorting station has been working for four months in the Prigorodny district of the Republic on a landfill of municipal solid waste. Plastic bottles, plastic bags, glass, paper, metal and secondary raw materials used in production are being removed from the waste. During the work the company has sent 250 tonnes of waste for processing to other regions. Work will be carried out to develop a network of similar facilities and the establishment of deep processing of waste on the site.
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Human rights organizations of Georgia and some deputies urge the parliament not to pass a bill that provides liability for insulting religious feelings, Georgia-Online reports. The bill, initiated by a deputy from the ruling Georgian Dream coalition Soso Jachvliani on February 2nd, was supported by the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee. Its discussion by the Parliamentary Legal Committee is to take place before it is on the agenda of the session.The bill, determining administrative penalties for offending religious feelings, was criticized by some members of the coalition, especially by representatives of the Republican Party. "The Parliament should not accept this bill, in my opinion, it is contrary to the constitutional rights of the individual. I believe that this bill is a restriction of freedom of expression and I do not support it,'' the Republican MP Levan Berdzenishvili stated.
The coalition of NGO's 'No Phobia' noted in a statement that in addition to the restriction of freedom of expression, the bill "will also restrict the position of religious minorities in the country." "The fact that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee supported the bill in the first reading at a time when its main function should be protection of human rights and freedoms, as well as promotion of democratic principles, causes particular concern," a statement signed by nine non-governmental organizations reports. They also said the hearing in the parliamentary Human Rights Committee, "clearly underlines that the main purpose of the law is the prohibition of healthy criticism of the Georgian Orthodox Church (GOC)." "It is sad that the subject of discussion in the Parliament of Georgia is infrequent attacks against religious minorities, searches for ways to respond to hate-motivated crimes and unjustified prohibition of healthy criticism of the GOC by society," the statement informs. The international human rights organization Amnesty International noted that the proposed legislation doesn't comply with the international obligations of Georgia. It can outlaw criticism of religious leaders and institutions, as well as stifle free speech on current political and social issues, including the rights of sexual minorities.
According to a statement released by the Patriarchate of Georgia on February 4th, it dissociated itself from involvement in the bill. "Despite often heard statements and speeches in our country that contain words of hatred and slander against the Church and its leader, the matter of the adoption of this bill is not our initiative, neither earlier, nor now." The publication notes that in January 2013, the Georgian Patriarchate urged the authorities to identify the "limits of freedom of expression in order to protect the rights of believers from offense of their religious feelings." That same year, Georgia's Interior Ministry prepared a bill that referred to insulting religious feelings to the list of administrative violations, but the initiative was not accepted at the time.
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This year, the newspaper Dagestani Pravda reported that about 22,000 children are to spend their vacations in summer health camps. For this purpose, the government plans to allocate 164 million rubles. "The financial crisis should not affect the quality of the summer recreation campaign, the first deputy chairman of the Dagestani Republic, Anatoly Karibov, said at a meeting of the Republican interdepartmental commission on the organization of summer holidays, rehabilitation and employment of children and young people. Before the creation of groups, he demanded that special attention be paid to children from low-income families and those who have found themselves in a difficult situation. Special attention should be paid to issues of fire safety at children's recreational facilities, food and involvement of skilled personnel. The pricing policy and the number of days have remained unchanged since last year. The daily cost of a voucher to the recreational facilities is not more than 950 rubles for one child, and not more than 547.6 rubles for suburban stationary camps. The food in the camps should be organized in the amount of 100 rubles a day. The change is to last 21 days. The date of the opening of the summer season is around June 6th to 10th.
