The government finally decided on the exclusive powers of the municipalities on the ownership of roads. However, questions on this issue are not fully resolved.
President Ilham Aliyev signed on October 20 a decree, according to which changes in the document (Decree "On improvement of management of road transport", 22 February 2007), define the powers of the executive branch (BPI) and the local government in respect of roads in towns and villages. This document underwent changes in June 2008, but the property of local roads was not made clear. The fact is that the city's roads in Baku were transferred to the Ministry of Transport. The remaining roads and structures, both in Baku and other cities and regional centers were transferred to the shared use of local executive power (EP) and municipalities. In fact, these roads were operated exclusively by local EP; the funding was provided from the state budget.
According to the latest changes in the document, urban roads are transferred to the balance of the local EP. Intra roads and village streets, passages, public transport routes, other roads and facilities are transferred to the balance of the municipalities.
The expert of the Public Association "Promoting Economic Initiatives" Samir Aliyev estimates this step of the government as a response to the recommendations of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe from 2012 about local democracy in Azerbaijan. "The decision of the authorities will put an end to the uncertainty in one of the many exceptional powers of municipalities," he said. At the same time, the expert believes that the issue is not entirely settled, since municipalities do not have the necessary financial resources to fulfill their mandate. "According to the Law of AR on the status of municipalities (Article 42), the legislative and executive authorities in the case of a transfer of additional powers to the municipalities, should provide the financial side of the question at the moment of decision. However, the draft state budget for 2015 did not increase the sum of grants to municipalities,"Aliyev said.
The Government intends to grant AZN 5.2 million to municipalities in 2015. Regular municipal elections will be held in Azerbaijan on December 23. --08B--
Economics
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