Gubad Ibadoglu: Dark Expenses of State Budget

Baku / 17.03.18 / Turan: Doctor of Economic Sciences Gubad Ibadoglu published an article on his page in Facebook entitled "Dark expenditures of the state budget". In his opinion, at least 800 million manat of state budget funds can be used for corruption purposes, in the absence of transparency.

He draws attention to the fact that in the state budget of 2018, about 1.5 billion manat is not included in the main section of the expenditure side.

Of this amount, AZN 333 million is to be allocated to the targeted budgetary fund Automobile Roads, AZN 300 million to the reserve funds, including AZN 200 million to the Reserve Fund of the President, and AZN 100 million to the Reserve Fund of the State Budget.

The remaining 862.2 million manat is registered as "other expenses", not attributed to the main part of the state budget.

At the same time, AZN 20 million out of the 862.2 million manat will be spent on international and state events and as much on liquidation of the consequences of natural disasters.

Ibadoglu believes that AZN 20 million of expenses for international and state events is "meaningless". In his opinion, former politicians who have lost their authority in their countries are often invited to these events.

As for the remaining 822.2 million manat, there is no economic, functional or administrative classification at all. That is, it is not clear who, how and where is to spend these funds. Absence of explanations on the use of funds in the amount of 4 percent of the state budget opens the way to potential facts of corruption.

For comparison, Ibadoglu notes that in countries with a transparent budget, the size of "other expenses" does not exceed 1 percent.

Returning to the topic of international events, the expert notes that in world practice such meetings are held not at the expense of public funds, but thanks to the help of donors and international NGOs.

In Azerbaijan, it is necessary to put an end to this vicious practice, when the means of taxpayers and oil money are misused, Ibadoglu summarizes. ----06B-