Azerbaijani oilmen dream to earn extra money abroad

Azerbaijan is a petroleum country, proud of supplying Europe with oil and gas. “Why cannot Azerbaijan provide its specialists with such a job, so that they do look for it abroad?” asked a resident of Baku who visited the Turan editorial office. He is a graduate of Azneftekhim, and has been working as a manager in a state oil and gas company in one of the Middle Eastern countries for more than 10 years. In an Arab monarchical country, a two-storey villa with a courtyard, in which there is also a house cleaner is house or a barn, is provided for use in Baku. The company pays all utility bills, and this is not only water, but also electricity for six continuously operating air conditioners in the house. He was given a low interest loan to buy a crossover car. The house is cleaned by Filipinos, who pay the oilman. The company that hired him employs about ten Azerbaijani citizens.  He did not say about the salary, since it is a secret of the company, and he may be fired for disclosure. For the same reason, Turan cannot give the first name and surname and the country in which the Baku employee works.

“Information about the company's finances is secret information. The size of the salary depends on which country the employee is in and in which position. That is, a specialist from Western Europe receives much more than an employee of the same level from Asia. Specialists from Azerbaijan are in the same “basket” as specialists from Turkey, Russia, Eastern Europe and South America. Workers are not allowed to inform each other about their salaries. Even my boss does not know how much I get. This is negotiated solely between the personnel officers and the candidate for the job posting. We also guarantee that we will not share this information on social networks. Therefore, I ask inadvertently not to expose anyone. They are watching tightly.

Regarding the social obligations of the company. The company is not directly involved in this. They participate in all kinds of seminars and forums at local universities to stimulate development and attract local children. All revenues go to the state treasury; and then are used in accordance with state priorities. Hydrocarbons make up the a great share of the country's GDP, therefore all that has been built and is being built in this country over the past decades is all oil and gas revenues. Look at the pictures of any Arab oil-producing country of the 50-60s and compare with today's pictures and you will see a breakthrough made in 50 years. In fact, the state was built from scratch, since for 50 years its capital was a forgotten girl god,” said an Azerbaijani oilman working in the Middle East.

The salaries of oil workers in the Arab states can be judged by the fact that Americans work in the same positions in this company, while oil workers in the United States earn $ 9,200 a month. Consequently, Americans can earn by one and a half or two times more in the Middle East. In Norway, the average annual salary of oil workers is $ 160,000, in Australia $ 171,000, in the US $ 123,800, and in Sudan $ 59,800 a year. According to the Hays recruiting company, the average salary in the Russian oil and gas industry is about $ 59,000 annually or 150 thousand rubles a month, while foreigners in Russian companies receive an average of $ 151,000 a year.

Azerbaijanis get jobs in foreign oil and gas companies through recruiting companies that select specialists by the company’s order, our interlocutor explained.

How much do oilmen earn in Azerbaijan? Mirvari Gahramanli, head of the Oil Rights Protection Committee, says that salaries vary between Azerigaz, Azneft and other SOCAR-related companies. They pay less off shore than onshore. In the head office even more. Tariff rates are not so high. An engineer of the 10th category earns 800 manat per month. Azneft’s engineers on land receive 800-1000 manat per month, earn less on offshore platforms than offshore platforms, M. Gahramanli answered for Turan.

At the time of work on this article, the rate of the Azerbaijani manat was 1.74 AZN per US dollar.

M. Gahramanli advised us to turn to two Azerbaijani oil workers. The first one agreed to answer on condition of anonymity, as he might be punished for an interview with the press.

“In Soviet times, our engineers earned abroad much more, receiving allowances for work in the desert. Our engineers returned home with a Volga GAZ-24 car. Now, in comparison with republican salaries, oil workers receive a lot, but much less than they could abroad. Foreigners in SOCAR get more money than the Azerbaijanis get. Azerbaijani oil engineers receive 1,000 manat per month, are provided with health insurance. Oil workers are given an additional 75% of the salary for work at sea, food is paid daily, and compensation is given for injuries in the event of an accident. This is a lot, but Azerbaijani oil workers are ready to go abroad to earn more. I do not know the exact salary figures abroad, but it is known that in other countries, people earn by 2-3 times more than in Azerbaijan, the oil engineer shared.

Fahri Gurbanli works as an engineer and says that in SOCAR, salaries in onshore fields are low, and do not reach 1,000 manats per month; sometimes they may receive less depending on the position and rank. In addition, they give out 75% of the salary for work at sea; they also pay separately for overtime on Saturday and Sunday, when the work lasts 12 hours. Thus, the salary of an engineer reaches 1,500-2,000 manat per month after an increase by 20% on September 1. At sea, the engineer’s total income is about $ 1,000 on average and offshore a salary of about $ 500. In Europe, in Norway, the salaries of oil workers are by 4-5 times higher than in Azerbaijan, that is why young oil workers seek to work abroad. Azerbaijanis who worked with foreign companies in our country also leave the country in search of work. They are hired by companies operating in Azerbaijan or leaving our country.

Answering a question about the reasons for the low security of SOCAR employees, F. Gurbanli noted that the profits of this state-owned company are less than of foreign competitors. “Oil deposits in Azerbaijan are old; the number of employees is high. The older the field, the more workers are needed for its exploitation; hence the company's costs are rising. The general low level of salaries throughout the country plays a role. I think that due to the need to maintain social justice, SOCAR cannot pay oil workers much more than teachers.  We asked F.Gurbanli, maybe the reason is in other obligations of SOCAR, which pays for state expenses?

SOCAR is a state-owned company and the state can unlimitedly use the profit of this company. When   the President was Abulfaz Elchibey, SOCAR’s revenues were directed to military spending, which was then spoken in plain text. Until now, state revenues of more than 60% are generated by SOCAR. With such costs for the needs of the state and low profitability of deposits, it is difficult to demand the same salaries from the company as in Arab countries,” the oilman F. Gurbanli answered.