Tariff Council and the Interests of Low-Income Population

Баку/01.07.21/Turan: On Wednesday, the meeting of the Tariff Council (TC) of Azerbaijan approved a new system for differentiating prices for natural gas for the population. Human rights activist Mirvari Gahramanli shared her thoughts in the “Difficult Issue” program of the Turan News Agency on how the transition to the new system will affect the population of the country.

The assertion that the change of prices on natural gas is based on social policy pursued by the state and a model that is in the interests of the poor raises serious doubts, Gahramanli said.

She noted that the decision to increase the preferential part of the gas tariff from 1700 cubic meters to 2200 cubic meters in Azerbaijan on April 30, 2019, which came into force on May 1, 2019, did not improve the situation of the population.  Although, by the decree of the President of Azerbaijan on September 1, the size of the minimum wage in the country increased by 70 manats and amounted to 250 manats.

If little has changed from this in the social protection of citizens, then it is extremely doubtful that this can be achieved by increasing utility costs, Gahramanli believes. She did not rule out the likelihood that the government "forcing people to save money" deliberately seeks to increase public discontent.

According to Gahramanli, in March last year, the head of state demanded that no one be fired. However, in connection with the pandemic, jobs continued to decline, many of the president's orders were not carried out, and at the same time, those responsible for this went unpunished.

Gahramanli claims that the State Statistics Committee underestimates the number of unemployed, and in fact, their number has exceeded one million. In addition, many people work without labor agreements, pensions and benefits are small, and prices are steadily rising. Against this background, the decisions of the Tariff Council look like a deliberate deterioration in the material situation of the population.

“Sometimes state officials try to compare the situation in Azerbaijan with the situation in Europe. However, it should be understood that Azerbaijan extracts gas and then the level of salaries in Europe and Azerbaijan is incommensurable. And the protection of the unemployed there is at a completely different level,” she concluded.--0--