Energy in Azerbaijan

[Azad]

Re: Energy in Azerbaijan

Fortunately for us, Azerbaijan produces nothing, and has no goods to export, and 95% of its exports are energy resources .

Maybe the country can bath in crude oil while eating caviar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m1DEW1ToYM

[HyeSocialist]

Re: Energy in Azerbaijan

One advantage of a weakening currency is that your exports become more competitive with a lower price, while imports are more expensive, and therefore it helps domestic industries. Fortunately for us, Azerbaijan produces nothing, and has no goods to export, and 95% of its exports are energy resources .

A lot of these articles are addressing that as well. It seems that when they had a strong currency, it was really easy for them to import goods from Turkey and Iran instead of producing it locally. Essentially nothing developed domestically and essentially agriculture and manufacturing hardly exist in Azerbaijan. Which is really good news for us. They essentially have to restart their entire xxxxing economy, with dwindling oil money and just SOFAZ. The way they are defending the SOFAZ assets seems to signal that they have no intention of using that money to invest in their economy. Its going to be siphoned off by the Aliyev clan.

[Mher]

Re: Energy in Azerbaijan

One advantage of a weakening currency is that your exports become more competitive with a lower price, while imports are more expensive, and therefore it helps domestic industries. Fortunately for us, Azerbaijan produces nothing, and has no goods to export, and 95% of its exports are energy resources .

[HyeSocialist]

Re: Energy in Azerbaijan

Azeri central bank says sells $98.2 mln on FX market on Friday

Jan 22 Azerbaijan's central bank said it sold a total of $98.2 million on the foreign exchange market on Friday to support the weakening national manat currency.

The manat has lost more than a third of its value against the dollar in the past month and the central bank has burned through more than half its foreign currency reserves, which now stand at about $5 billion, trying to protect its value from low oil prices. Oil and gas account for 75 percent of the Azeri state's revenues.

(Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Jack Stubbs)

[/B]http://www.reuters.com/article/azerb...-idUSL8N1561X7

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Another $100mln down the tube.

[HyeSocialist]

Re: Energy in Azerbaijan

Azeri c.bank says rumours of manat's further weakening "groundless"

http://www.reuters.com/article/azerbaijan-crisis-idUSL8N1531W6?feedType=RSS&feedName=bondsNews

Jan 19 Rumours that the rate of Azerbaijan's manat currency may tumble further to 1.8-2.0 per dollar are groundless, central bank head Elman Rustamov said on Tuesday.

"Azerbaijan's economy should adapt to today's oil prices," he said in parliament. "We have enough resources and we are able to use them in the right direction."

The official rate set for Tuesday was 1.6028 manats per dollar. (Reporting by Nailia Bagirova and Margarita Antidze; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Maria Kiselyova)


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This is how everything stars.

If there is no substance to the rummer why make the announcement.

.

It's not a rumor. The blackmarket rate is already 1.8-2.0. Even at that rate, the Azeri manat is a strong currency meaning that they still have to import their goods, meaning they still have to buy dollars, meaning there will be more pressures pushing the exchange rate up. Adding currency controls only means that FDI is going to run dry for everything besides oil. Meaning if they want investment into their own country it has to come from SOFAZ. The $30bln in that fund now has to somehow both put the air breaks on the currency skyrocketing out of control, fund their budget, fill in the budget deficit, and put money into investments.

[londontsi]

Re: Energy in Azerbaijan

Azeri c.bank says rumours of manat's further weakening "groundless"

http://www.reuters.com/article/azerbaijan-crisis-idUSL8N1531W6?feedType=RSS&feedName=bondsNews

Jan 19 Rumours that the rate of Azerbaijan's manat currency may tumble further to 1.8-2.0 per dollar are groundless, central bank head Elman Rustamov said on Tuesday.

"Azerbaijan's economy should adapt to today's oil prices," he said in parliament. "We have enough resources and we are able to use them in the right direction."

The official rate set for Tuesday was 1.6028 manats per dollar. (Reporting by Nailia Bagirova and Margarita Antidze; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Maria Kiselyova)


=======================================

This is how everything stars.

If there is no substance to the rummer why make the announcement.

.

[londontsi]

Re: Energy in Azerbaijan

Georgian Energy Minister Says Russian Gas Supplies May Increase to 20%

http://sputniknews.com/business/20160120/1033400715/georgia-russia-gas-supply.html

Georgia’s negotiations with the Russian energy giant Gazprom may lead to increases of Russian natural gas deliveries to the former Soviet republic to 20 percent, Georgian Energy Minister Kakha Kaladze said.

TBILISI (Sputnik) – Georgia imports the majority of its gas from neighboring Azerbaijan. Although Tbilisi has not acquired gas from Russia since 2007, it gets 12 percent of Russian gas as a transit fee to Armenia.

"If an agreement can be reached, we would be able to receive additional volumes of up to 20 percent when our country needs it. Of course, this is a temporary one-year agreement," Kaladze told the Rustavi 2 television channel late Tuesday.

He said the previous agreement with Gazprom expired on December 31.

Kaladze cited the "technical inability" on the part of Azeri pipelines to increase supplies as the reason for ongoing talks, whose next round is scheduled in Vienna on Wednesday.

The minister said Georgia "makes every effort" to maintain its transit status in light of Russia’s request to compensate the country monetarily for gas deliveries to Armenia in the latest talks.

Should the country lose its transit status, Kaladze said power lines would need to be stopped.

"We would have to purchase additional electricity from Russia, which would require even greater spending and affect rates, so our citizens would have to pay more."

Talks between the two countries were first held last October.

National experts and the opposition criticize the possible partnership as a precursor to the loss of Georgia’s energy independence.

[londontsi]

Re: Energy in Azerbaijan

Azeri c.bank forex reserves stand at around $5 bln -bank chief

http://www.reuters.com/article/azerbaijan-crisis-idUSR4N150005?feedType=RSS&feedName=bondsNews

Jan 19 The foreign currency reserves of Azerbaijan's central bank currently stand at around $5 billion, the bank's head, Elman Rustamov, told reporters on Tuesday.

The central bank was ready to sell $200 million on the forex market on Monday to support the ailing manat currency but local banks bought less than this amount, he said. (Reporting by Nailia Bagirova and Margarita Antidze; Writing by Dmitry Solovyov; Editing by Maria Kiselyova)

[londontsi]

Re: Energy in Azerbaijan

Revised Azeri budget to be based on $30 oil - c.bank chief

http://www.reuters.com/article/azerbaijan-crisis-budget-idUSL8N1534FW?feedType=RSS&feedName=bondsNews

an 19 Azerbaijan's revised budget will be based on an oil price of $30 a barrel, the country's central bank chief said on Tuesday, as the former Soviet country struggles to stave off a currency crisis.

Oil-rich Azerbaijan has been hit hard by the collapse in global oil prices to multi-year lows as energy sales account for 75 percent of government revenue.

It has been forced into devaluing its currency and has burnt through over half of its official reserves.

"After revision the budget will be based on an oil price of $30 per barrel," the central bank's Elman Rustamov told state television. Azerbaijan's 2016 state budget is currently based on an oil price of $50 per barrel.

The Azeri manat has lost about a third of its value against the dollar in the past month and central bank reserves now stand at about $5 billion.

Azeri Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said last week that the state budget would be amended and spending cut in response to the crisis.

He said Azerbaijan took in 11.6 percent less in budget revenue than it had expected last year because of the decline in oil prices.

Economic growth slowed to 1 percent last year from 2.8 percent in 2014, well below official forecasts.

The 2016 budget currently sees total government revenues of 14.6 billion manats ($9.1 billion), down from 19.4 billion manats in 2015. Spending of 16.3 billion manats is forecast, down from 21.1 billion manats last year.

($1=1.6028 manats) (Reporting by Nailia Bagirova and Margarita Antidze; Editing by Alexander Winning)

[Mher]

Re: Energy in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan GP organisers deny F1 race under threat
21 January 2016

Organisers for the upcoming F1 Grand Prix of Europe in Azerbaijan say its inaugural event is not under threat, despite a recent global drop in oil and gas prices sparking economic concerns.

Azerbaijan is gearing up to host its maiden F1 race in June this year around the streets of its capital city Baku, but it comes at a time when global prices in gas and oil – which it is economically dependent on – have slumped.

Indeed, though Azerbaijan economy has grown sharply in recent years on the back of rising prices, the drop has caused the local currency, the Manat, to devalue sharply, raising concerns that it could be forced to rein in public spending in an effort to stabilise it again.

However, though organisers for the Baku City Circuit acknowledge the financial outlay of staging an F1 event is sizeable, they play down the negative impact such an event would have on the economy, instead maintaining that the tourism and publicity benefits would be of benefit.

“The devaluation of the Manat will have no impact with regards to the staging of the first ever Formula 1 race in Azerbaijan,” a statement issued to Crash.net said. “In fact, when the budget for the Grand Prix of Europe was approved, it was initially calculated in US dollars. As a result, we not expecting any changes to the current event budget.

“BCC shares the concerns of everyone at the current devaluation of our national currency. BCC also accepts that staging such a major event requires a significant financial outlay. However, we would once again stress that the overall economic impact - both short and long term, direct and indirect - created by staging an F1 race will be of huge benefit to the national economy.

“The impact of increased tourism and direct visitor spending that will be injected into Baku area business establishments such as restaurants, bars, hotels and retailers will see millions, if not more, pumped into the economy.

“Similarly, the hosting of the race itself will create thousands of jobs directly and indirectly linked to the event. We are confident that the staging of this race will not only play a major part in aiding the recovery in the short term but in driving the national economy forward for years to come, outweighing any existing concerns being levelled against the cost of staging it.”

http://www.crash.net/f1/news/226193/1/azerbaijan-gp-organisers-deny-f1-race-under-threat.html#818YFoiDTSpVPi4Z.99