Media Review for September 4

The fight against illegal employment, the position of entrepreneurs in the Euro Home building materials market, the economic damage from quarantine, and the likelihood of a rise in the price of taxi services are topics of today's media.

The newspaper Azerbaijan discusses the issue of combating illegal employment, which is the main indicator of the shadow economy.

In this case, the employer avoids paying taxes and insurance. This calls into question the right to social protection, citizens' pensions, as well as insurance against industrial accidents.

For 3 years, the number of employment contracts has grown by 387 thousand or over 30%. Today the number of contract workers is 1,661,692. In the private sector, this growth in January-June amounted to 110 thousand people. The number of insured persons increased by 6.5%.

The website Yeniavaz.com writes about the situation of entrepreneurs working in the market of building materials “EuroHome”. After the fire in December 2019, entrepreneurs suffered large losses, but did not receive compensation. In return, they were offered to work for a year without paying rent. However, this proposal does not suit entrepreneurs, who have suffered large losses - half a million manats each.

The market management promises to compensate all losses after receiving insurance payments.

The investigation into the fire has not yet been completed. The insurance has not been received yet, so there are no compensation.

Recall that the fire occurred on December 10 last year and covered 2,100 sq. meters, 144 entrepreneurs suffered material damage.

Müsavat.com discusses the damage to the economy during the pandemic. Expert Natik Jafarli estimates the damage at 2.7 billion manats.

Tourism has suffered the biggest blow. Taking into account tax incentives and a package of support for victims of the pandemic, over 3-3.5 billion manats have been spent from the budget. The State Oil Fund was forced to spend twice what it earned.

The website Redaktor.az writes that in Baku the cost of a taxi ride will rise from 2 to 6 manats. Expert Rashad Hasanov recalls the concept prepared by BTA, which reflects the creation of a single dispatch center, a single tariff system, and the use of quotas.

 The expert called the lack of economic liberalization a serious mistake, as a result of which there is an artificial rise in prices. In countries with market economies, price regulation is based on supply and demand, based on the availability of a private sector and conditions for competition. When the purchasing power of the population falls, it is wrong to increase taxi services. –0 -----