Press Review December 20, 2017

The development of the non-oil sector in the regions, the lack of a level of concern for citizens, and the country's dependence on imports are the leading topics of today's press.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the development of the regions of the country and the state programs adopted in this connection. The author writes that among developed regions there is Ismayilli, which this year was visited by more than 100 thousand tourists, of which over 13 thousand were foreigners.

The website Ayna.az writes about the absence of state care for Azerbaijani citizens. At the same time, there is concern for foreigners. The author narrates about educational grants to citizens of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. But for the citizens of Azerbaijan, the authorities of Azerbaijan have not renewed the state program on education abroad for two years, and they do not allocate money for this from the budget. The author also notes that in Azerbaijan, education is 85% paid.

The newspaper Novoye Vremya published an article entitled Banana Paradise in Economics. While government officials proudly report about the growth of non-commodity exports and the rapid diversification of the national economy, the volume of food imports continues to grow. In comparison with the indicators of the past years, in the reporting period of the current year there is a significant decline in exports and a high growth rate of imports. Both indicators point to a decline in the production of agricultural products and foodstuffs in Azerbaijan. Five years ago, in January-October 2012, the country imported food worth $ 815 million. For comparison, the import index for January-October this year increased significantly, to 1 billion 121 million dollars. -0-