Press Review 05/13/2016

Visits of representatives of the international business community to Azerbaijan, the level of corruption and bribery in the country, the expected meeting in Vienna on Karabakh, and check in the private sector are the main topics of today's press.

The official newspaper Azerbaijan writes that Ilham Aliyev’s economic reforms won the trust of global business. So the newspaper considers the visit of business people from France and America to Azerbaijan.

The author believes it is also a measure of support for the course of Ilham Aliyev to the economic reforms to improve the investment climate in Azerbaijan.

The author also notes that the country has suspended checking the private sector and the number of these inspections was reduced from 20,000 to 30 annually.

Azadlig cites the opinion of Nemat Aliyev, an expert on shadow economy, corruption and bribery in Azerbaijan. It is about the IMF report entitled Corruption: the Costs and Strategy Making.

The report says that Azerbaijan is at the forefront of countries where corruption works for the state apparatus. The World Bank argues that the level of shadow economy in Azerbaijan is 32-50%. Azerbaijan leads almost all the lists of corruption and bribery. Nemat Aliyev recalled that Azerbaijan's appeal to the IMF and World Bank for loans remained unanswered for this reason.

Echo cites the opinion of the expert R. Mammadov, who believes that definition of the legal status of the Caspian Sea is not possible today, as two of the five Caspian littoral states do not agree with the opinion of the three. "The main culprit is the official Ashgabat. Turkmenistan, in fact cannot take a constructive position in the negotiations. Iran also operates quietly, sending its proposals to Turkmenistan, which picks them up.

One gets the impression that Russia "treats" Iran and Turkmenistan on the Caspian Sea status. The Russian government is trying to please these two fractious countries, but they are not. There is "grinding" the problem, but in the near future radical solutions will not be accepted as it is difficult to please Iran. Turkmenistan is even more so difficult. If the Caspian Sea Convention on the legal status was accepted by all, the problem would be solved, but it's hard to believe that," said Mammadov.

Novoye Vremya publishes an article entitled An Old Song from Co-Chairs about the Main Thing, where the author talks about the upcoming Vienna meeting of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Any results should not be expected from this meeting. The situation is so fragile, so any violation of the truce can disrupt it. Besides, the sides of the conflict, after four days of war, are not prepared for this meeting, and there is no clarity on the position of the mediators themselves. The Armenian side links the issue of liberation of the occupied territories to the time of the referendum on Karabakh's status.

Azerbaijan insists on the liberation of all the occupied territories around Karabakh and only then considers it possible to determine the status. Moreover, the Azerbaijani side does not accept any agreements, which are aimed at violation of the territorial integrity of the country. Highly significant is the statement of the American Co-Chair James Warlick that after the talks it is required to "decide in which direction to move forward." It actually means recognition of the impasse.

Bizim Yol brings thoughts of the Economic Research Center’s head Ghalib Togrul over the suspension of inspections in the private sector. According to him, checks did not change anything significantly, as it is a source of bribes for officials. After such checks the business people could not get over it for a long time, adjusting their financial situation with forced illegal machinations.

As a result, the consumer suffered. The expert believes that the termination of inspections is not a solution to the problem, because as soon as they begin, the bribes mechanism will work again. As a way out he suggests creating a transparent reporting mechanism, which would ensure the application of the law "On regulation of inspections in the field of entrepreneurship and protection of entrepreneurs' interests."