Press Review February 20, 2018

The increase in export potential in the agrarian sector, the hindrances imposed by municipalities and executive authorities on the development of entrepreneurship, and domestic policy against the backdrop of the Karabakh problem are the leading topics of today's press.

The newspaper Azerbaijan published an article on export growth in the agrarian sector. The author calls the agrarian reforms successful. Persimmon export increaased. In 2016-2017, new persimmon gardens were planted on an area of ​​800 hectares.

The area of ​​apple and pomegranate gardens is also increasing. It is planned to increase the export of these fruits, as well as the production and export of olives. A factory will be built to produce olive oil with a capacity of 3,000-4,000 tons.

The newspaper Echo published an article about the negative role of municipalities and executive authorities in the development of entrepreneurship. Despite the President's order to protect the rights of entrepreneurs, municipalities and executive authorities continue to hamper business development.

If small and medium-sized businessmen are trying to create their own business, executive authorities, and therefore municipalities, do not meet them, but, on the contrary, hinder that. The country's legislation allows municipalities to create various small and medium-sized enterprises, but in practice this is not the case. Experts propose either to completely abolish municipalities, or give them more rights, and, accordingly, encourage them to create more enterprises.

The website Azadliqinfo.az writes about the negotiations on the Karabakh settlement, noting that during the 25 years of the ruling of the New Azerbaijan Party there has been no progress on this issue. On the contrary, in the presence of the ceasefire regime, thousands of Azerbaijani servicemen have died, while the authorities of Azerbaijan say that we have a strong army. The author believes that everything that is happening is connected with the lack of determination of the authorities.