Opposition in Azerbaijan protests against rising fuel prices

On December 15  at the stadium " Mehsul "  at 14:00-16:00 the National Council of Democratic Forces will hold a protest rally  due to the increase of tariffs for a number of fuel services.

On December 3,  without any notification and justification, the Tariff Council has raised tariffs on fuel on average by more than 30 %.

Independent economists believe the increase  is unreasonable, and this is an attempt of the  government to patch holes in the budget at the expense of citizens' pockets. First time over the past 10 years the budget for 2014 was adopted with the reduction of 3% of the revenue .

The Head of the  Caspian  Oil Research Center, Ilham  Shaban said that the government does not disclose data on the cost of fuel production in Azerbaijan.

"However,  it is known at what price  the crude oil  is supplied to domestic refineries -  at 56 manat per ton, at the current rate -  $71.5, or about $10 per barrel. In the USA the refineries buy  raw materials  at more than $90 per barrel, but there is the retail price of gasoline , the quality of which is several times higher   that the quality of the  Azerbaijani  oil,  and is only 75 cents per liter. Now the   price of gasoline AI-92 has already reached around 90 cents , that is, higher than in America," the correspondent of the "Caucasian Knot" was told by  Ilham Shaban.

Various sources report that  it is planned to increase in January the price of gas, electricity, water and utilities.

Rally and other forms of protest by opposition pursue preventive purposes, in order to prevent  a large-scale co embezzlement  of national wealth at the expense of civil officials. According to experts , about 80 % of the economy  is illegal  and the huge amounts of money, avoiding taxes,  go to the pockets of the elite. Besides, protectionism and monopolies stifle the economy.  On the level of corruption Azerbaijan ranks the 127^th in the world.  -0-