Azerbaijan unveils funds spent on liberated lands

Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov has said that more than nine billion manats ($5.3 billion) were allocated for the restoration work, launched immediately after Azerbaijan’s historic victory in the second Karabakh war, taking into account certain funds not used this year.

Sharifov made the remarks at the meeting of the Azerbaijani parliament on November 16, APA reports.

He noted that a number of bills have been submitted to the Azerbaijani parliament to revive economic activity in the liberated territories by restoring them.

“The changes to the Tax Code, the Labour Code, the Migration Code and other documents have been prepared to implement the presidential decree on restoration work in the liberated territories,” the minister added.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliamentary Committee on Economic Policy, Industry and Entrepreneurship Tahir Mirkishili has said that the performance indicators of state budget revenues in Azerbaijan for January-October 2022 give grounds to say that budget revenue next year will be higher than was planned.

Mirkishili made the remarks at the plenary parliamentary session on November 16, Report informs.

“The bill envisages budget revenues for 2023 in the amount of 30,720.7 billion manats ($18.071 billion), that is, 1,522.9 billion manats ($895.8 million) more than for 2022,” he noted.

“Approximately half of the growth accounts for the non-oil and gas sector, the other half - for the oil and gas sector. We think it acceptable to plan deductions from the tax and customs bodies in the amount of more than 1.807 billion manats ($1.06 billion), which is facilitated by the transparency of the business environment in the country, trust between the state and the entrepreneur, as well as the growth of inflation rate and imports,” he said.

“The main reason for the increase in budget revenues from the oil sector was the planning of a tax on profits from the export of natural gas from the Shah Deniz field in the amount of 2.875 billion manats or $1.7 billion (an increase of 700 million manats or $411 million),” Mirkishili said.

Moreover, Mirkishili also noted that although the Karabakh conflict is over, additional measures should be taken due to the threats outside the Azerbaijani borders.

“My colleagues noted the importance of increasing spending in this sphere during the discussions, but we believe that, if necessary, it will be possible to allocate additional funds to overcome threats,” he said.