World Bank Urges Azerbaijan to Reduce Water Sector Subsidies Amid Growing Water Deficit

The 12th International Caspian Energy Forum commenced today in Baku, organized by the Caspian Energy Club in collaboration with Enermus, bringing together over 500 delegates from across the Caspian-Black Sea and Baltic regions.

Last week, the Central Bank of Russia raised the interest rate from 18% to 19% annually. The decision to increase the rate was made against the backdrop of rising inflation expectations among the public and businesses.

Azerbaijan’s Cabinet of Ministers has announced a detailed timeline for the mandatory transition of labor contracts to an electronic document format, in accordance with a decree issued by the President of Azerbaijan on June 28, 2024. The resolution, signed on September 17 by Prime Minister Ali Asadov, outlines phased implementation deadlines for different categories of employers, with the aim of modernizing labor documentation and improving efficiency.

In the Karabakh economic region, there is a transformative push towards revitalizing agriculture through the creation of agroparks, the most notable of which is the "DOST Agropark," inaugurated in Zangilan in 2023. Despite promises from Azerbaijani officials to establish additional agroparks, significant obstacles remain, the most prominent being the absence of comprehensive land reform in the liberated territories.