Actual Production of Construction Fittings in Azerbaijan Concealed, Says Lawyer

In the first ten months of this year Azerbaijan produced 189.5 thousand tons of building reinforcement, which is 8.6 % less than in the comparable period last year, according to the State Statistics Committee. Experts believe that the real production of building bars in Azerbaijan is concealed.

In fact, the only manufacturer of construction fittings in Azerbaijan is LLC Baku Steel Company, with the production capacity of 770 thousand tons per year. Lawyer Aslan Ismailov representing Zulfugarli brothers (former owners of steel companies) told the local press that the statistics do not reflect the actual situation on the steel market. "After complete monopolization of the metal market in Azerbaijan from August 2012 through forced removal of competitors by LLC Baku Steel Company, the metallurgy sector actually switched to opaque plane. Hiding the real output also means tax evasion," stressed the lawyer.

Note that in 2012 the volume of production of building bars in Azerbaijan amounted to 244.8 thousand tons, which is 51.6 % more than in 2011 (161.4 thousand tons). In 2009-2010, the amount of reinforcement was 94.6 thousand and 131.4 thousand tons.

LLC Baku Steel Company started in October this year to build a new steel plant in Hovsan in the suburbs of Baku with the capacity of 1 million tons per year. -08B-