SOCAR's contradictory response to Turan Agency

Baku/17.10.23/Turan:  On September 5, the Turan news agency published an article “A strange rule by “Azeriqaz” to install counters on the wall of someone else's building.”

The article tells about the dissatisfaction of the residents of the house at Mir Jalal 129A, in Baku with the fact that a gas meter belonging to another two-storey private building is installed on the wall of their apartment building. “Azerigaz” insists that the meter is installed legally according to certain regulatory rules.

Having studied the complaint of one of the tenants, Turan conducted  own investigation, and concluded that the meter was installed in violation of the law.

Due to the lack of any reaction to the publication by SOCAR and its Azerigaz, a public and written information request was sent to SOCAR on September 15.

After the expiration of the statutory response time – 7 days, due to the absence of a response, Turan turned to the Ombudsman for help. And only after that, on October 4, a response was received from SOCAR.

The response of Vice President Elshad Nasirov is based on defending the actions of Azerigaz on this issue.

First of all, I would like to start with the most important question that was sent to the owner of the information.

The question by Turan: In what time limit will measures be taken to place all legislative and regulatory documents regulating the state policy in the field of gas supply on the website of Azerigaz?

E.Nasirov’s answer: The placement of all legislative acts regulating relations in this area on the official website of “Azerigaz” is not provided. Relevant information can be obtained from open Internet resources. At the same time, consistent measures are being taken to inform our subscribers.

Thus, topical issues that are regulated by legislative acts are brought to the attention of the population through the radio and television programs "Open Microphone", "Gas Subscriber Time" constantly conducted by the Association, intended for representatives of the media and NGOs of the "Open Doors" campaign, as well as at meetings with consumers. Various social videos on the safety of our consumers are being prepared and distributed in the media, and their questions are answered at live meetings on the Facebook page.

It is praiseworthy that various information and educational activities are being undertaken for the population. However, we fundamentally disagree that this may be the basis for ignoring the requirements of the law on freedom of access to information.

Article 29. The obligation of the information owner to disclose the information of the Law On Freedom of Access to Information requires mandatory placement of legislative and regulatory acts. And not only. And many other things that are not only on the “Azerigaz” website, but also SOCAR. And this is a direct gross violation of this law and a corruption act according to Article 9.3.8. of the Anti-Corruption Law. In this regard, I must say right away that we insist on placing all information on both sites in accordance with the Law on Obtaining Information. Mr. Nasirov's references to the relevant regulations without specifying specific articles with disclosure of information cannot be accepted. And they are just an attempt to cover up illegal actions on “Azerigaz.”  In order to get an objective picture of the problem, the director of Turan had to spend considerable time to find justifications based on legislative and regulatory acts through various sources. It should not be like this. That is why the law on freedom of Access to information was adopted to simplify citizens' access to information.

Article 10.

10.1. The owner of information is obliged to ensure the right of everyone to free, unhindered and equal access to information from their information resources in accordance with the procedure established by this Law.

10.2. For this purpose, the owner of the information appoints an information officer or creates a structural unit, provides information services.

10.3. The absence of the appointment of an information officer or the creation of a structural unit may not be grounds for refusal to provide information services.

10.4. Information Owner:

10.4.1.  must provide the information request as soon as possible and in the most appropriate way for the requester;

10.4.2. must keep a register of documents;

10.4.3. must regularly inform the public about the performance of public duties;

10.4.4.  must disclose the public information that he must disclose in the manner and within the time limits established by this Law;

10.4.5. must help the requester;

10.4.6. must inform the requester about restrictions on access to information;

10.4.7. must protect information to which access is restricted by law;

10.4.8. must not provide false, incomplete or inaccurate information, and in cases of doubt, check the reliability and credibility of the information.

10.5. An official or structural unit for information issues performs the following functions:

10.5.1. thoroughly examines requests and makes decisions;

10.5.2. provides requests in accordance with the procedure provided for by this Law;

10.5.3. exercises control over the provision of information services;

Statistics 29. The obligation of the information owner to disclose information of the Law on Freedom of Access to Information of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

29.1. The information holder must disclose the following information created or obtained as a result of performing public duties, in order to ensure the interests of society more easily and promptly, reduce numerous information requests:

29.1.1. generalized statistical data, including generalized statistics of crimes and administrative offenses;

29.1.2. budget forecasts;

29.1.3. regulations on structural divisions of state bodies;

29.1.4. developed guidelines for the activities of state bodies and municipalities;

29.1.5. staffing table of state bodies and municipalities, names, surnames, phone numbers, e-mail addresses of officials working in these departments, as well as information about their education and qualifications;

29.1.6. reports on the activities of state bodies and municipalities;

29.1.7. names and surnames, e-mail addresses of employees of the governing bodies of legal entities (including public legal entities) performing public functions; [16]

29.1.8. information on the conditions, results of state and municipal procurement, as well as on the sale of state and municipal property, changes in property rights to it;

29.1.9. loans, grants received by the owners of information determined by Article 9.1 of this law, information on their terms and use;

29.1.10. from the moment of sending draft regulatory legal acts for approval or approval;

29.1.11. from the date of entry into force of regulatory legal acts;

29.1.12. reports on the activities of legal entities (including public legal entities) performing public functions, information on their income and expenses;

29.1.13. reports on the execution of the state budget and the consolidated budget;

29.1.14. data on the state of the environment, environmental damage, hazardous environmental impact and environmental impact assessment; [17]

29.1.15. orders, orders and resolutions of state authorities and municipalities - from the date of entry into force of orders, orders and resolutions;

29.1.16. before submitting for approval projects of socially significant concepts, development plans and programs of the state;

29.1.17. information on vacancies of state bodies and municipalities;

29.1.18. information about goods and services of state bodies and municipalities;

29.1.19. information on the use of state budget funds or property allocated to them to private legal entities established by state authorities and municipalities or acting with their participation;

29.1.20. programs of mass events;

29.1.21. information on changes related to services provided by state bodies and municipalities - no later than ten days before the introduction of this change;

29.1.22. information about reception hours of heads of state and municipal bodies;

29.1.23. information on labor remuneration rates, payment instructions in force at state and municipal enterprises, as well as on the rules for payment of surcharges and special benefits;

29.1.24. information possessed by legal entities (including public legal entities) performing public functions, as well as private legal entities and individuals providing services in the field of education, healthcare, culture and social sphere on the basis of regulatory legal acts or contracts;

29.1.25. legal entities occupying a dominant position in the commodity market, possessing special or exclusive rights or a natural monopoly information on the terms of the offer of goods and services and their prices, changes in these terms and prices - at least 30 days before the offer of terms or changes in these terms and prices;

29.1.26. information concerning the use of funds provided from the state budget to non-profit organizations, extra-budgetary funds wholly or partially owned by the state or dependent, as well as commercial associations of which the state is a member or participant, or property allocated to them;

29.1.27. information about public services provided to the population, as well as about changes made to their prices during the provision of services - before these changes are made;

29.1.28. judicial acts;

29.1.29. information on state registers within the limits provided by law;

29.1.30. register of information owners;

29.1.31. results of the public opinion poll;

29.1.32. information about the property and property obligations of the owner of the information;

29.1.33. list of information constituting a state secret;

29.1.34. information, the disclosure of which is determined by a special law, international treaties or regulations adopted on their basis, or other information, the disclosure of which the owner of the information considers necessary.

29.2. Public information specified in Article 29.1 of this Law may not be the subject of an information request, except in cases provided for in Article 22.4 of this Law.

The reply letter contains the address and name of the owner of the gas meter, which we asked for. However, it is doubtful that the object is included in the register of real estate. In this regard, I ask you to provide an extract from the register.

SOCAR's response letter states that the meter is installed in accordance with the requirements of legislative and regulatory acts. However, the same letter contains new information that gives grounds to consider the gas supply of the facility illegal. The letter specifically states that the premises are "uninhabited". As far as we understand, this room is not a production facility since the meter is household. And if it is not a production room, then, according to safety requirements, gas supply of non-residential office premises is prohibited.

For example, Turan's office, which is located in a residential building, is gasified, but “Azerigaz” has banned the agency from using gas, since the premises are used as non-residential. And for almost 10 years, the agency has been using electrical appliances for heating and cooking.

Secondly, when the house of Turan director Mehman Aliyev was connected to the gas distribution network, he asked to install a meter on the fence of a neighbor who was not against it. However, the “Azerigaz” contracting company insisted on placing the meter on the fence of the gasified object, according to the same standards. And it was installed that way.

The response letter also states that the gas meter in relation to consumers who do not belong to the category of the population is installed at the gas source closest to the gasified object. But the question is why the gas source (meaning the mother line) was not brought to the "gasified object". Mehman Aliyev also wanted to bring gas to his house, as a subscriber from the "population" category at a distance of 20 meters from the gas source. However, the contracting company refused, referring to the requirement that the gas source should be brought to the Aliyev fence, and from there the 20-inch pipe will continue on its way to the gas stove. If necessary, so it is necessary. And so they did. Aliyev has officially paid all the costs.

Now the question is, according to what principles SOCAR evaluates, to whom and how to install the meter.

Turan has not been able to get a clear answer to the questions "Is the meter installed according to the law?", "What measures and when is SOCAR preparing to take to solve the problem posed by Mirvari Naibova?" because there is no transparency of the entire regulatory framework for gas supply.

The agency also has a question for Mr. Nasirov. Interestingly, he himself studied all the regulatory documents when compiling the answer, or the answer was compiled in Azerigaz software and submitted to him for signature. As last time, to put it mildly, the answer is made unprofessionally and is more designed to protect the honor of the soiled “Azerigaz” uniform.

The Agency is still waiting for the placement of the entire regulatory framework for gas supply on the Azerigaz website in order to be able to receive answers promptly and objectively to emerging questions. This is also important for all subscribers of “Azerigaz,” to which they have a huge number of questions that journalists simply cannot respond to due to lack of resources and time.

Previous articles on the topic:

SOCAR continues to evade answers to Turan's questions

Structural unit of SOCAR together with the courts violate the rights of citizens

I`ve heard about judges who don`t read the cases under consideration, but I had to see it for the first time

Will 'smart' gas meters put an end to casualties and intrusions?

SOCAR blocks access to information