Press Review 27. 06.17

Azerbaijan's contribution to Islamic unity, the continued dependence of the Azerbaijani economy on oil, and the low standard of living in the capital are the leading topics of today's press.

The Azerbaijan asserts that Azerbaijan makes a worthy contribution to Islamic solidarity, which is extremely important in such a difficult period of Islamic history, as certain forces are trying to turn the territory of Islamic countries into bloody lakes.

Against this background, the author emphasizes the importance of the policy pursued by Azerbaijan, mentioning Baku's initiatives to strengthen Islamic solidarity.

The Echo published an article titled Will Azerbaijan Be Able to Get off Oil Needle? Given that oil prices practically do not grow in the last two years, we have a chance to make serious efforts and finally engage in the non-oil sector, because sooner or later we will have to abandon oil as a priority sector. But this requires serious structural reforms, which we do not yet observe.

In the country, it is necessary to create conditions for the development of small and medium-sized businesses, which will give impetus to creating competition. We need to look for markets for what we can offer at the moment, except oil. Basically, these are fruits and vegetables in raw form. Unfortunately, we do not have many enterprises engaged in deep processing of agricultural products, and therefore we deliver this product mainly to Russia, as it simply will not reach further distances.

The Novoye Vremya published an article titled Quality of Life in Baku: Is Deterioration Temporary? In June, Baku deteriorated its position in the Quality of Life Index, which the international portal Numbeo compiles.

This time in the rating there were already 187 cities (in May there were 184). As for Baku, which took the 165th place (in May it was 151st), here again there is a very low purchasing power index, a low health and cost of living index, and a high level of pollution in a good climate. At the same time Baku is recognized as a safe city. In general, the capital of Azerbaijan received 91.29 points (in May it was 96.35) with a moderate quality of life. -0----