Ilham Shaban, head of Oil Studies Centre Caspian Barrel, has drawn attention to the level of secrecy of the talks held yesterday. “There was no open information about that, mass media just published a short official statement about discussion of joint projects between Rosneft and SOCAR.”
Meanwhile, he believes that only this small detail shows importance of the meeting.
“At the meeting with Azerbaijani President, Igor Sechin has taken out a big file out of his brief case. This show that this time Rosneft President has arrived in Baku with very concrete proposals and submitted the projects of operation of two joint ventures to Azerbaijani President,” he said and added that Rosneft is interested in cooperation with SOCAR for several reasons.
“In particular, at present Rosneft has many licenses for development of shelf fields, but he has problems with them, because of the ban on delivery of high technology equipment required for that to Russia. Meanwhile, SOCAR is able to perform a wide range of works on the shelf, including horizontal and down-the-hole drilling, applying used western technologies. The same could be said about SOCAR’s drilling rig, which could be easily used in the Russian sector of the Caspian Sea,” Shaban said.
He believes that SOCAR could give some projects to the Russian partners within the framework of a joint venture. “There are several projects, which SOCAR could submit for development.—0-
Economics
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On September 20, 2024, Volts Energy Ltd., an engineering company based in Abu Dhabi, and Azerbaijan’s Turan Energy LLC announced the creation of a new joint entity, TuranVoltsEnergy. This venture will focus on EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) projects in renewable energy and energy storage systems within Azerbaijan.
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The number of passengers traveling by air from Azerbaijan has seen a significant increase in 2024, rising by 26.7% from January to September compared to the same period last year. According to the State Agency for Tourism, a total of 2,548,897 people used air transport services to travel to 40 countries during this period.
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Azerbaijan’s prolonged border closures, approaching five years, have taken a profound toll on the labor market, particularly in border regions, where cross-border trade and services were once critical economic drivers. Official data highlights the stark disparity between the growing labor force and the lack of new job creation in these areas, underscoring the social and economic challenges faced by residents.
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Azerbaijan’s food imports have surged to unprecedented levels, with a significant rise recorded in the first nine months of 2024, according to data from the State Customs Committee. Food imports for January-September reached USD 1.755 billion, marking an 11.4% increase over the same period last year. This represents a USD 179.7 million increase compared to 2023, setting a record for food imports in the country’s history. Over the past decade, food imports have more than doubled, rising by 2.4 times, with a notable 52.5% growth in the last five years alone.
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