Azerbaijan

Statement of the Coalition of NGOs for “Improving Transparency in Extracting Industries”

The Coalition of NGOs for” Improving Transparency in Extracting Industries (ITEI) in Azerbaijan” that includes more than 140 local NGOs, is concerned about the stagnation noticed in the recent application of EITI initiative in Azerbaijan. The main concern of the Coalition is unreasonable expectations on Multi Stakeholder Group, established after the Validation process in Azerbaijan, by recommendations of the International Board at the 4th EITI Conference in Qatar.

Publish What You Pay Spotlights on National Coalitions are written by the PWYP international office and are based on interviews with national coordinators and key members of national coalitions. They aim to provide greater coverage and an improved understanding of national coalitions and their work on campaigning for greater transparency and accountability in the extractive industries.

Download a PDF of the spotlight in Arabic

November 11, “Increasing Transparency in Extractive Industries” Coalition of Azerbaijan prepared its review of the 13th audit report on EITI covering the period of January 1 to June 30, 2010.
3 main recommendations were proposed for improving the situation on EITI.

1. Coalition considered aggregated reporting did not allow to deep monitoring and investigation of oil revenues thus proposed disaggregated reporting system staring from 2011.

2. The Coalition proposed annual EITI reporting, instead of existing semi-annual.

Ingilab Ahmadov

Ingilab Ahmadov is a key member of the Azerbaijan NGO Coalition for “Increasing Transparency in Extractive Industries” and a member of the international Board of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

Ingilab Ahmadov was born on October 23, 1960 in Lenkoran city, Azerbaijan. During 1982-1987 he studied at the Faculty of Economics at Saint-Petersburg State University (formerly Leningrad) in Russia. From 1987 to 1990 Mr. Ahmadov undertook his post-graduate study at the same University.

Azerbaijan became the first country to be granted Compliant status by the EITI Board on February 16, 2009. The EITI Board granted this status to Azerbaijan with certain conditions, namely the establishment of a formal multistakeholder group (MSG) and the establishment of a work plan. (There is a unique historical context in Azerbaijan with respect to its work plan and MSG that was taken into account in this case. Azerbaijan developed an EITI process and issued EITI reports prior to the establishment of the EITI Validation Guide. For a more complete description of the Board decision, please refer to the Minutes of the 7th EITI Board Meeting which are available on the EITI website at http://eiti.org/about/boardmeetings). As of 24 August 2009, the conditions placed upon Azerbaijan have still not been met. PWYP is monitoring the situation closely and is working closely with civil society in Azerbaijan and the EITI International Secretariat to ensure that corrective actions are being taken. On 21 August 2009 the Azerbaijan NGO Coalition for “Increasing Transparency in Extractive Industries” released a statement calling for the conditions laid out at the 7th EITI Board meeting in Doha, Qatar to be respected.

Doha: Publish What You Pay (PWYP), the global civil society coalition, said today that the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) needs to redouble its efforts to protect civil society activists and ensure that civil society is an equal partner in efforts to achieve transparency in natural resource revenue management.

This report focuses on the paradoxical links between natural resource wealth and child poverty in developing countries, including Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Sudan and Venezuela. It includes recommendations for governments, companies, shareholders, donors and civil society on how to enhance transparency over company payments and government revenues, which Save the Children UK believes to be integral to a more accountable system for the management of such revenues that is in the best interests of children.

Op-ed by Director of Global Witness, Simon Taylor.

While oil, gas and minerals are by far the largest sources of state revenue for the world’s poorest nations, these resources, which should help fund development and sustainable economic growth, all too often turn out to be a curse, leading to increased poverty, child malnutrition and civil conflict.