Will the government respond to calls to cancel the decision of the Tariff Council?

Baku/21.10.21/Turan: The coalition of public associations "Increasing transparency in the extractive industries" has circulated a document in which it expressed its position on the recent decision of the Tariff Council to raise prices for natural gas and electricity. The document emphasizes that the recent decisions of the Tariff Council to regulate prices for natural gas, as well as electricity on the domestic market, do not meet the interests of the population and assesses these decisions as a step that will worsen the socio-economic situation, especially in the current pandemic.

The appeal also says that decisions are made by the government not collegially, but on the basis of instructions, without a dialogue with the public. Before making decisions that directly affect the interests of the population, no public discussions are held, the interests of the people are not taken into account.

The coalition called on the government to return to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) and achieve transparency at all levels of extractive industry activities, including disclosure of contracts, licensing terms, commodity trading, tenders and procurement.

The coalition claims that the recent decisions of the Tariff Council to regulate prices for natural gas and electricity in the domestic market do not meet the interests of the population, and in the context of the pandemic, these decisions exacerbate its socio-economic situation.

The Coalition also called on the government to reverse these decisions of the Tariff Council and revise prices for energy resources, including gas and electricity in the domestic market, return to the EITI  at all levels of activity in the extractive industry, including disclosure of information on contracts, licensing conditions, trade raw materials, tenders and purchases.

Will the government respond to the calls of the Coalition?

Ilham Huseynli, coordinator of the Increasing Transparency in Extractive Industries Coalition, answered these and other questions in the “Difficult Question” program.

According to him, the population of Azerbaijan, especially in the context of a pandemic, needs social protection. Even in developed countries, be it the United States or European countries, steps are being taken to strengthen social protection of the population. The people of Azerbaijan with full right to that each time expect the government to provide them with increased social support. Unfortunately, the government invariably makes decisions that do not meet the interests of the people.

“The incomes of the population in recent years have not grown, but even  declined. And in these conditions, the increase in tariffs will deal a serious blow to the needy strata of the population. And this is not adequate to the global trend,” Huseynli said, adding that the Coalition considers the CU decision to aggravate the already difficult situation of the population.

“Undoubtedly, this decision will worsen the situation of people,” he is convinced. “Justification of the Customs Union for raising tariffs by toasting gas prices in the EU countries, Turkey, etc. is fundamentally wrong. It is appropriate to compare Azerbaijan with post-Soviet countries. When we talk about democracy, we are told that we should not be compared with Western countries. They immediately remember the difference in mentality. But when it comes to child support (child allowance), they do not want to hear about it. When making such decisions, one should also remember what is the average salary in the country,” the Coalition coordinator is convinced.