Press Review 01/03/2016

Official newspapers widely report the second meeting of the Advisory Council of the Southern Gas Corridor, as well as publish the speech by Ilham Aliyev at the meeting.

The independent press writes about the financial crisis in the country and social problems.

Azadlig writes about the increase in trials associated with loans. Lawyers involved in these trials claim that their number has increased more than 10 times.

65-70% of credit claims are related to consumer loans, and the rest is litigation between banks and entrepreneurs.

After the devaluation of the manat, entrepreneurs cannot return dollar-denominated loans. Particularly difficult is the situation in the construction sector. There is another problem - foreign companies cannot get their debts from their Azerbaijani partners. So, Ukrainian and Belarusian companies cannot get their money for the sold equipment.

Novoye Vremya publishes an article by R. Valiyev, in which the author argues that the United States began a deceitful gas game, resulting in the output of oil and gas as a seller in the market. On the other hand, it means oil and gas pipelines built to bypass Russia.

US exports will change the situation in Europe, where America clears the market for its products. The author argues that the project of the Southern Gas Corridor is dangerous for Azerbaijan, as it is an alternative to oil and gas projects in Russia.

Yeni Musavat writes that the West strengthens the position of Baku against the Kremlin, supporting project of the Southern Gas Corridor. At the time, the same situation was around the project Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, says MP Vahid Ahmedov.

The West is trying to get rid of the oil and gas dependence on Russia. The fact that the event of the project Southern Gas Corridor takes place in Azerbaijan means that Baku is not afraid of the Kremlin.

Bizim Yol refers to the visit of the Vice-President of the EU on Foreign Policy Federica Mogherini to Azerbaijan an "important agreement" between the EU and Azerbaijan.

Mogherini said that the focus of the EU's cooperation with partner countries is on issues such as the protection of human rights.

She also noted that the importance of Azerbaijan for the EU in connection with the implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project will increase. At the same time, the EU underlines support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.