The death of the Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Natig Aliyev, who passed away today at the age of 69, is a great loss for the republic - Natig Aliyev was one of the most effective and professional leaders, whose name is associated with the most important events in Azerbaijan's economic life.
Before Heydar Aliyev was elected the President of Azerbaijan, negotiations on oil and gas development in the newly independent republic were conducted by foreign experts. When Heydar Aliyev appointed highly qualified Azerbaijani specialists to the leadership positions, Natig Aliyev became president and chairman of the board of directors of the Republican State Oil Company (SOCAR), and Chairman of the State Committee for Development of Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli fields.
Natig Aliyev together with Ilham Aliyev led the negotiation process for the conclusion of the Contract of the Century. They developed the contract with BP and other companies by taking into account all possible problems in the oil market, including the drop in prices - thus, thanks to Natig Aliyev's decisions, the Azerbaijani people received the real value of the most valuable resource hidden in the bowels of their own land.
Eight years later, Natig Aliyev became chairman of the Board of Directors of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), which implemented a project to create infrastructure for the transportation of Azerbaijani oil to Western markets.
When Ilham Aliyev, who worked as Natig Aliyev's deputy and first deputy in SOCAR for nine years, was elected president of Azerbaijan, his appointment as the republic's minister of industry and energy in December 2005 was the most logical.
In 2005, he was elected President of the Azerbaijan Oil Workers Congress. He had been doctor of economic sciences and academician of International East Oil Academy since 2008.He was elected as correspondent member of the International Academy of Engineering (IAE) in 2008. In 2009 he was elected member of the Republican Council of Organization and Separation Scientific research. Aliyev has been awarded with Shohrat Order due to service in development of oil industry in Azerbaijan Republic. He was also awarded with Order of the Glory of Georgia, Legion d’Honneur of France and Meritted Engineer Medal of Azerbaijan Republic.
Natig Aliyev was a key person in the past and present of the Azerbaijani oil sector that is why this loss is terrible for the people, the state and the world elite of top oil managers.
