Head of EITI Holds Meetings with Representatives of Civil Society

The Chairman of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) Clare Short held a meeting with representatives of non-governmental organizations and independent media in Baku.

The sides exchanged views on the place of Azerbaijan in Transparency Initiative, the situation of civil society, the attitude of the international organizations to the situation in the country in light of the economic crisis and the pressure on independent NGOs and the media by the government.

Dialogue with civil society was held after the meeting between Ms. Short and President Ilham Aliyev to discuss issues of implementation of the commitments by Azerbaijan in the framework of EITI, as well as participation of the NGO sector in the EITI.

As it is known, because of the failure of official Baku with its obligations in the field of transparency, EITI lowered the status of Azerbaijan's membership in this organization to the level of candidate in April 2015.

The economist Gubad Ibadoglu told Turan the current status of Azerbaijan in EITI and the possibility of its exclusion from the organization will be another element of the government's self-imposed isolation, undermining the confidence of the international financial institutions and causing deep-reaching consequences for the economy. -0-