Ilham Aliyev: Fall in Oil Prices Does Not Frighten Us

In an interview with the TV channel Russia-24 the head of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said that tolerance and multiculturalism reign in Azerbaijan.

He accused the government of the People's Front of nationalism and attempt to extrude the non-indigenous population from the country. However, the bugs have been fixed and there are no prerequisites that it could happen again.

Regarding the situation outside the country, it is a concern, but the negative effects are constrained by "higher consciousness of society and effective public policy," said Aliyev.

Turning to the fall in world oil prices, he said it would have a negative impact on the economy, but "various scenarios have been developed and at an oil price of $ 60 the economy will grow steadily." He noted that the budgetary price is $ 90.

"The negative I see is that we will do in two years what is planned for one. We will simply cut budget spending on infrastructure projects," Aliyev said, adding that the government is committed to ensuring that oil revenues were not more than a third of GDP.

How justified is the expectation that the economy will be stable at a price of $ 60? On this question Aliyev gave no clear answer.

Last year, the Azerbaijani economy was invested $ 28 billion. For a country with a population of nearly ten million it is a considerable amount, from which 70% is public investment in infrastructure.

"As for Russia, we have invested in the banking sector, acquired the shares of VTB, as well as in real estate and manufacturing. So for us, the Russian market is promising, and we will continue to invest heavily in it, no matter what the situation, despite the so-called sanctions. Firstly, this is temporary, and, secondly, we need to work to strengthen relations," Aliyev said.

Asked about the Karabakh settlement, Aliyev said that Armenia does not want peace settlement of the problem and wants to leave everything as it is, to maintain the status quo.

After several meetings at the highest level the sides reached an agreement on confidence-building measures to reduce the incidents on the contact line.

"But just two weeks later Armenia began military exercises in the occupied part of our territory. Moreover, they were held not in Armenia, and not even within Nagorno-Karabakh, but in the territory of the Agdam region of Azerbaijan, just along the line of contact. According to their own reports, 47 thousand soldiers and thousands of types of equipment participated there. The question is what the need was to arrange this provocation immediately after the meeting in Paris,”Aliyev said.

"I think that the leading countries of the world have to say a clear word here not only with statements, but also with respect to the decisions that were taken. Or decisions are not taken, while actions are carried out - we've seen it too many times in the modern world not so long ago.

Demolition of existing mechanisms for international cooperation will lead to a total chaos. I think that in this historical period the responsibility falls on the leading countries of the world. They must not violate international law, in the first place. They should support international law and the world order that emerged after World War II," said Aliyev.

Is there a threat from LIH to Azerbaijan? On this question, Aliyev said that the emergence of this group is the result of a policy which was carried out in the Middle East.

This proves once again that it is impossible to divide terrorists into good and bad. Until it is decided by the leading countries of the world, until a common understanding appears of the fight against radicalism and terrorism, such a situation will arise constantly. -02D-