Legal protection of citizens` initiatives in all spheres of the country`s activity is necessary

Legal policy in Azerbaijan should, first of all, be based on the protection and security of our citizens in all fields of the country, including public authorities and national security in line with norms of technological design, so as not to face different categories of threats: state of war, blockade conditions, terrorism, etc. (https://haqqin.az/news/275266).

With end in view, it is required that all the inhabitants of the country have equal access to the markets of the economy of Azerbaijan, from the average villager and student to the banker and entrepreneur of the country (as required, for example, by the philosophy of the communication sector), where the national interests of the country should be clearly defined with due regard for the level of services of the consumers.

In all appearance, all this requires that a number of legal, technical and personnel issues be solved in the country, although we do not have, for example, in all the sectoral institutions (educational, research and design) that are able to work us out of the impasse that has arisen. For instance, the “Law on Communication” (Telecommunications), adopted by the Milli Majlis of the country, could establish all the legal framework in the communication sector of the country and specify the responsibilities of persons involved in the provision of the communication services and information, as well the communication technology (ICT). https://haqqin.az/news/270183

Regretfully, over the 70-years of the USSR, neither Baku, nor Moscow completely identify the generation of the scientific potential in Azerbaijan itself. Probably that is why we need a new legal policy in the country with public digital economy structure, optimal distribution of information flows, high-speed digital data transmission network (basic structure of the "e-government") of the country, etc.

Apparently, therefore, the national interests in the country should be reflected in the real concept of development of all sectors of the country, and serve as a fundamental document of the digital development of the economy of Azerbaijan. Reforms in the country should be prepared seriously to create a legal framework and mechanisms for their implementation.

For the specified reasons, one of the main tasks of the country's security agencies was and still is to work closely with the country's Ministry of Communications (it’s about the events of the SSS and the Ministry of Communications in autumn 2015) to protect and safeguard the country's residents.

Let us recall how on 19 January 1990, in front of the Central Committee of Communist Party of Azerbaijan in the morning there was a rally of many thousands, whose participants demanded the abolition of the USSR decree of 15 January 1990 on the introduction of state of emergency in several regions of Azerbaijan. However at about 19 o'clock at the Television Center in Baku, the power unit was blown up (and of course, the role of KGB in those events was preferred not to mention). 

But it transpired that, even today, in terms of independent Azerbaijan, we faced the fall of 2015 (the MNS and Ministry of Communications case), in particular with ten investigations into the heads of the country's Ministry of Communications enterprises, over two (2016-2017) years. 

Note that in Europe, the effectiveness of market formation for the economy is specified as a balance of the following processes: availability of an independent industry regulator, liberalization, demonopolization, and only at the end of it all - privatization.

It is obvious that there is a need for an orderly set of legal principles to protect all strategically important sectors of the economy:

• Adoption of a unified vision for the country's development in the Milli Majlis (MM)
• Inventory and continuity of all technical solutions in the country
• Availability of an independent regulator of economic sectors (outside state structures)
• Actual availability of alternative and competition in the economy of the country
• Transparency of privatization in all spheres of Azerbaijan's economy, etc.

Note that Azerbaijan apparently (having such oil and gas revenues) should not contribute to job creation abroad at the expense of unemployment in our own economic sectors (throwing hundreds of millions on a number of projects) and injecting foreign producer countries with such huge funds under various pretexts and  slogans http://www.aze.az/news_washington_times_ssha_89569.html

For example, do you see any qualitative reduction in the rates of the communication sector (CS) with the introduction of the AzerSpace satellite  http://news.day.az/politics/261290.html?        

It is not for nothing that the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) still defines the level of telecommunications development of a country not by the number of mobile phones in the country (or satellite links) but by the number of fixed (landline) phones per 100 residents as the most affordable and cheapest type of communication services and the Internet in the country.

Yes, today Azerbaijan cannot yet claim to be a technological leader in the world, for example on CC (like Ericsson, Siemens, Apple, etc.), the availability of sector institutes and manufacturers would make it possible to become, at least, co-authors of a number of technological developments, rather than "mechanical assemblers or users".

In all probability, today any new technology becomes in a short while the property  worldwide, regardless of the level of development of the mentioned country, and even more so through the efforts of the administrative sectors of the economy of this country (there is only need in funds to invest).

In considering the above-stated, there is a need for transparent national planning, design and construction of new elements of the country's economy (Master Plan), including the requirements of national security, and the recommendations of the international financial institutions of a specific country.

In order to take into account the national interests of country’s economy, it is time to hold expertise and technical audit of all applied financial solutions and appointed managerial staff in our country and create systems of certification of imported equipment and technology in the country.

Unfortunately, for this to happen, we have no training, research and design institutes in many sectors of the economy, capable of dealing with this on a highly professional level. The establishment and support of domestic producers in the country to protect national interests is a matter of paramount importance.

In the developed world (e.g. England), analysts have identified certain types of holdings, which include all operating companies that operate autonomously in different market segments of the country's economy, to reduce costs by unifying business processes within their divisions. That enables the holding company to provide different services in the country with due regard for the growth in their profitability. Obviously, the vertical integration in market economies of the countries involved is a realistic way to protect the industry from loss of revenues, and remain within the holding company.

However, this is also fraught with consequences when it comes to the developing world where the power is sometimes usurped in the hands of one family or clan. Consequently, in terms of the legal framework and the necessity of the developing countries to move towards an information society, the government must develop adaptive and alternative measures where the establishment of non-state institutions with the right of independent regulator (outside state structures) for transparency must be prioritized.

When it comes to Azerbaijan, it is evident that there is a need to follow the rights and system of protection of interests not only of state bodies in the country but also of all private consumers in already non-market economic conditions claiming for digital development of all sectors of Azerbaijan economy.

But most importantly, it is the transparency of the privatization process in the related sectors.

In turn, experts believe that the participation of foreign investors in the privatization of any branches of the country is a real "barometer of transparency" of this process, and the "transparency" will grow together with independence of the industry regulators from government agencies.

For example, since 29.03.2001 in effect is the order of the President of Azerbaijan on privatization in communication sector, so why for 22 years we do not finish work on evaluation of enterprises of this sector? Perhaps, a simple and transparent legal algorithm of privatization is needed, otherwise everything can happen as was the case with “Bakteleqraf” and “AzEuroTel” - "one step forward, two steps back" and interference in the philosophy and evolutionary path of the communication sector (CS), which does not give us a civilized way to determine privatization.

An independent regulator outside the sectors (outside state structures) is required for transparency of interconnection, mutual settlement and interconnection of them, where apparently dark sides and unaccounted incomes of economy sectors are hidden.

After all, experts know well that in many sectors of Azerbaijan's economy, there is live money, and most importantly, these sectors are actually profitable and efficient.

And who will tell us where these multi-million revenues flow to if we have no independent regulator outside of these sectors to control and ensure transparency of their income?

After all, if we don't learn transparency in the economy, our hydrocarbon reserves and "stable economy" will apparently not produce the appropriate results for the country, including in SS (as the disgraceful fall 2015 events on MNS and MC showed).

The real laws of economics are the laws of the market (as demonstrated by the collapse of the manat)!

From a legal point of view, it is abnormal that under a "market economy", a number of state-owned monopoly operators, the legislative framework for these industries, and their state conductor of technical and tariff policy are performed in one person.

In all likelihood, Azerbaijan's informatization program needs to be completed as well.

Maybe we need the transparency in all the stages of these endless projects in the country, including the stages of implementation, interim results, deviation from the initial course, efficiency of the resources used, payback, financial calculations, completion dates, etc. https://haqqin.az/news/270183.

For example, the region (rural) population of Azerbaijan (which is nearly half the population of the country) is almost 4 times worse than in Baku by the number of fixed telephone sets per 100 inhabitants, which also reduces the level of cheap and accessible Internet in the regions of the country (http://www.rcc.org.ru). Especially the last miles (and their quality) need to be sorted out in the country's rural areas.  

Probably the so-called Tariff Commission under the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan is a formal organization, taking a decision under pressure of government agencies - the state monopoly operators of the country. Perhaps, President I. Aliyev's decree of 14.01.2019 on taking additional measures to improve state governance in Azerbaijan (if they are attributed to the whole country) will help it. http://musavat.com/ru/news/ilham-aliev-uprazdnil-ryad-vedomstv_584576.html

Much more likely, there is only one alternative - independent regulator of the industry (outside the state structures) as a guarantee of transparency of interconnection and mutual settlement in the sectors of national economy.

Structural reorganization of management of sectors of national economy is necessary, as well as the division of powers into two independent units, separating services to population (function of operator) from legal function of interconnection and mutual settlement (function of legal regulator) outside government agencies. It seems to be an outlet for all private operators and providers of Azerbaijan.

Taking into account the above, we need alternatives, and as we know, the West builds its democracy precisely on alternatives, transparency and availability of opposition approaches. The way out of this situation is to work out a long-term development concept in five directions: technical policy, financing, management, commerce and human resources. One must prepare for the future and be among the developed countries of the world. After all, by having training, design and research institutes in different sectors of the economy, or at least combining them on a three-in-one basis (by creating sectoral universities in Azerbaijan), we could prepare the required specialists for the "digital development" of all sectors of the country's economy.

It seems that the future of the country is not determined by the name of this or that branch of the economy, but by the real work in these sectors and branches of the economy, for the good of the motherland. For example, adding the keywords: 1.+ICT, 2.+High-Tech, and now 3.+Digital Development (changing the name of the Ministry of Communications about three times) to the name of the Ministry of Communications is not the way out. After all, we are not the creators of these technologies in the world, and we are only the users of these digital technologies and for a lot of money.

The fact is that the history of Azerbaijan's "digital development" began not today, with the creation of the new Ministry of Digital Development and Transport (MDDT), but some forty years ago, in the late 70s, with the active introduction of digital transmission systems (DTS) for inter-station line (and we even had a plant in Baku to produce DTS) in the networks of the Soviet Union's Ministry of Communications.

So given the article in haqqin.az (by lawyer Ismail Kengerli - district heads, judges, prosecutors - all through the SSS Academy (https://haqqin.az/news/275266) I would approach with a bit of caution.

When adjusted for the specificity of management in Azerbaijan (where appointments to high positions in state structures of the country take place frequently) it is essential to provide, first of all, high professionalism and continuity of personnel, rather than nepotism or merit before someone.

Apparently, a total binding between the development of multifaceted economy of Azerbaijan and the new area titled "law in the sphere of state security" and teaching all this in all higher education institutions to preparing specialists in the field of jurisprudence somewhere must be approached carefully (because the emphasis on special regions of our country is already apparent in the management of our country).

However, recommendations that all middle and senior civil servants of higher and secondary levels should undergo special training in the field of state security and governance at the SSS Academy before taking up their posts are fraught with analogues of the notorious State Security Committee's (KGB's) overcoat and is far from the so-called "natural selection of personnel".