Press Review 08/09/2016

The construction of roads in the country, the National Council statement and the withdrawal of foreign companies from Azerbaijan are the leading topics of today's press.

The official newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the importance of the construction of roads and bridges in the country. Heading into an historical review, the author writes that in the 90 years of the last century, not only the country roads, but also the highways were in poor condition. The author focuses on the fact that it was after Heydar Aliyev’s coming to power that road construction development started. It is also about the development of the railway, the construction of the new airport and others.

The website Azadlig.info writes that the authorities are afraid of the opposition rally scheduled for 11 September. The site gives the text of the statement of the National Council on the alleged amendments to the Constitution, which explains their essence, as well as the time and place of the rally.

The authors of the statement argue that planned mass protest has caused great concern of the authorities, which was also the reason for the campaign aimed at discrediting the rally.

Novoye Vremya has published an article entitled Life Buoy for AZN or Who Speculates on Dollar? The article says that someone creates an artificial shortage of currency. MP Vahid Ahmedov said that, tourism and so forth businesses bring enough currency to Azerbaijan. Therefore, currency speculation should be immediately stopped by the law enforcement agencies. There are no objective prerequisites for the severe dollar shortage, he said.

AZN could only be saved through deep economic reforms and, respectively, the non-oil sector development and the fight against corruption and monopolies. But apparently, the Cabinet is not able to carry out such reforms. This means that the crisis will worsen.

Bizim Yol says foreign companies are leaving Azerbaijan in droves. In 2015, 64 foreign companies left the country, and since the beginning of 2016 45 foreign companies have done the same. The author writes that if three foreign companies leave a country daily, it is a very serious figure. According to the State Statistics Committee, last year, 71 foreign companies and representative offices ceased their activities in Azerbaijan. This means investment outflows from the country, which is followed by unemployment. The author also notes that during the 6 months of this year the number of new companies with foreign investments amounted to 251.