Press Review 06/10/2016

The official paper Azerbaijan writes that Azerbaijan is an economic, energy and logistics center in Europe. The newspaper writes about the regional leadership of Azerbaijan in terms of the implementation of international and regional projects.

Azerbaijan adjusts the energy map of Europe, is involved in the creation of an international transport corridor, and is a leader in the South Caucasus.

Azadlig criticizes the statistics that Ilham Aliyev presented during his visit to Germany. For example, he said the unemployment rate in Azerbaijan makes up about 5%.

However, in comparison with 2015, the conditions of life deteriorated by 38% in 2016. Prices have risen by 30-40%, non-performing loans account for more than 1 billion manats and per capita income has fallen by 34%.

The author also criticized Aliyev's statement on the development of non-oil sector and reduction of oil dependence. He used old data. According to statistics, investment in non-oil sector compared to last year decreased by 73%, in education - 84%, and in healthcare - 65%.

Echo has published an article entitled Fake Foreign Currency Sold in Azerbaijan Market. It says that recently large numbers of counterfeit banknotes have been detected in several post-Soviet states. It is possible that these "operations" can also take place in Azerbaijan. In the market there are fake US dollars, but it is unknown to what extent. Basically fake money is imported into Azerbaijan from Iran and Nigeria. In addition, our citizens have contrived to produce fake foreign currency in an artisanal way.

 Today in Azerbaijan there is a problem with the purchase of foreign currency and the criminals want to use the excitement in the community for their own selfish purposes. Against this background, the facts of production and distribution of counterfeit currency in Azerbaijan will increase.

Novoye Vremya has published an article entitled No Reason for Optimism, in which it touches on the post-oil era in Azerbaijan. In recent days, the price of "black gold" shows steady growth. Many experts predict a further increase up to $ 65 per barrel. Accidentally or not, many of these experts represent oil-exporting countries.

However the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has different view on this. The IMF report focuses on the situation in the oil market, given the oil price forecast for 2016 and 2017. In particular, the IMF believes the average price for Brent crude in 2016 will be $ 36 per barrel, and $ 42 in 2017. In 2021, the price will rise to $ 51 per barrel.

In addition, experts do not see any recovery of the banking sector of the country - on the contrary, they predict an increase in the number of problem loans. But their forecasts are not the main thing. More important is that the citizens of our country are acutely aware of the economic difficulties. Food prices rise along with inflation. This reduces incomes, raises unemployment and strikes business to the last breath; commercial properties close and businesses go bankrupt. Thus, the panic in society is gaining momentum.

Bizim Yol cites the opinion of an expert Rovshan Agayev on the situation in the gas market. He notes that in the next 3-4 years Azerbaijan will invest 10 billion USD in the project TANAP. Of this, about 8 billion dollars will be invested by foreign debt. The expert warns that it's tough times in terms of gas competition. The main buyers of liquid gas are Japan and Korea. As these countries have reduced fuel consumption, the market supply exceeds the demand. Agayev believes that Azerbaijan will not be able to get large profits in these conditions.