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FT Special Report-Azerbaijan
FT Special Report-Azerbaijan
FT Special Report-Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Thursday March 12 2015 www.ft.com/reports | @ftreports
for national
February 2014 disturbed President Page 2
Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan. Not only
was it a popular revolution against an Economy under
authoritarian ruler, but the US and its
western allies, regarded as partners in pressure
Devaluation and job
stability
Baku, openly sympathised with the pro-
democracy forces on the streets of Kiev. losses as oil price
In what looked like an effort to
forestall similar events at home, the slide hits hard
Azerbaijani authorities began to crack Page 3
W
aterfront skyscrapers an experience it has no desire to repeat. down on political dissent and independ-
and blustery winds Azerbaijan stands at a crossroads of civi- ent media even more than in the first Baku seeks a fresh role
from the Caspian Sea lisations and markets, old and new, and decade under Mr Aliyev, who replaced in energy markets
make Baku, Azerbai-
jans capital, look and
derives its identity from multiple
sources. Azeri is close to Turkish and
Heydar Aliyev, his father, as president in
2003. Human rights groups estimate
Plans are in train to
feel a little like Chicago, albeit with the Azerbaijani people are kinsmen of that, in the past year, more than 30 develop the state as a
fewer bright lights than the great city on the ethnic Azerbaijanis of neighbouring activists, lawyers, journalists and blog- hub for natural gas
Lake Michigan. Bakus spacious, Lon- Iran. But Azerbaijan also prides itself on gers have been detained and, in some Page 4
don-style taxis and backstreet pubs having established the worlds first sec- cases, convicted on what western gov-
inject another kind of western atmos- ular Muslim democracy, an experiment ernments consider bogus charges such
phere into this energy-rich corner of the that lasted from 1918 to 1920. as tax offences.
southern Caucasus. In the modern age, the government Even the few Azerbaijani human
Yet the luxury fashion stores, jewel- has sought to anchor national independ- rights campaigners still at liberty
lery shops and car showrooms of Baku, ence in membership of pan-European acknowledge that conditions are not as
brought into existence by Azerbaijans institutions, such as the Council of repressive as in some post-Soviet states,
oil and gas wealth, are more suggestive Europe and the Organisation for Secu- notably in central Asia. They entertain
of Dubai. The fact that Russian, after rity and Co-operation in Europe. faint hopes that the authorities may
Azeri, is the most widely spoken lan- Whether the southern Caucasus, declare an amnesty for some prisoners European Games
guage in Baku is a reminder that, until it which comprises Armenia, Azerbaijan in late March to mark Novruz, the
gained independence in 1991, Azerbai- and Georgia, is truly part of Europe is a Azerbaijani new year.
An opportunity to
jan had spent the best part of two centu- question over which geographers have But Mr Aliyev appears to have drawn display soft power
ries under Russian and Soviet rule scratched their heads since Ancient Hard hit: Ilham Aliyev, president, has seen growth rates stall Attila Kisbenedek AFP Continued on page 2 Page 4
2 FINANCIAL TIMES Thursday 12 March 2015
Azerbaijan
State of play
Derbent
How the increase in Azerbaijans GDP has outpaced that of Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union
R U S SI A Real GDP, rebased (1992=100)
GEORGIA
350
Azerbaijan 300
Tbilisi
Zaqatala 250
Quba
200
ki Russia 150
Qazax 100
amaxi
Mingcevir Sumqayit 50
Gyay 1992 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 2000 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15* 16*
Gnc Yevlax Baku
AZERBAIJAN GDP per capita Azerbaijan oil production Azerbaijan poverty rate
At purchasing power parity, 2014 ($ 000) Average over previous 12 months % of population
Yerevan Adam (000 barrels per day)
0 5 10 15 20 25
Khankendi/ 50
AR MEN IA Stepanakert
1000
Russia
NAGORNO- Salyan
KARABAKH Caspian Kazakhstan 800 40
Sea Belarus
Azerbaijan 30
600
Turkmenistan
Nakhchivan Ukraine
Georgia 400 20
Armenia
Uzbekistan 200 10
Lnkran
Moldova
Kyrgyz Rep. 0 0
I RA N Tajikistan
1995 2000 05 10 14 2001 05 10 13
100 km
FT research Sources: IMF; Thomson Reuters Datastream; World Bank *Forecasts for 2015 and 2016 fr om Consensus Economics
violence erupts
ship forged with the west since the
1990s will not stop western govern-
ments from criticising Azerbaijan on
domestic matters a stance Baku
objects to as brazen interference.
From the governments perspective,
events in the post-Soviet space took a
more alarming turn after Russia
exacted revenge for Mr Yanukovichs
downfall by carving up Ukraine.
Azerbaijans leaders are also con-
cerned about the implications for
domestic stability of Syrias civil war
and the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict Important pipelines and the Levant, known as Isis. Several
hundred Azerbaijani citizens have gone
run close to the front line, writes Tony Barber to take part in the Syrian war, causing
T
the government to tighten its antiterror-
he frozen conflict political intransigence and state-fuelled Peaceful protest: Having seized control of Karabakh However, western officials say acute ism laws last year and arrest dozens of
between Azerbaijan and propaganda are intensifying on both and seven adjacent districts from tensions between Russia and western suspected fighters.
Armenia over the territory sides of a dispute that concerns the EU,
people gathered
in Baku last Azerbaijan in the 1992-94 war, Armenia Its not just governments over Moscows annexation Azerbaijan is a predominantly secular
of Nagorno-Karabakh is Russia, Turkey and the US, not least month to now relies heavily on its economic and snipers any of Crimea and intervention in eastern society a legacy, in large part, of 70
heating up, erupting in reg- because oil and gas pipelines important security relationship with Russia to Ukraine have not hindered co-opera- years of official Soviet atheism and
ular bursts of violence that threaten to Europes energy security lie close to
commemorate
those killed deter any attempt by Baku to reclaim its more. Its tion on Karabakh. only 15 per cent of the population are
regional stability and risk triggering the Karabakh front line. during the war lost territories by full-scale war. attack Nagorno-Karabakh (which means religiously observant, according to gov-
ripple effects beyond the southern Cau- Mr Aliyev and his government are dis- What is unclear is how Russia might mountainous black garden), a mainly ernment estimates. Nevertheless, the
casus. playing more frustration with the lack
with Armenia
Tofik Babayev AFP react if Azerbaijan launched an attack helicopters, Armenian-populated enclave of Azer- states extensive security apparatus
Januarys casualty toll of 12 killed and of diplomatic progress than for many but took care to confine its forces artillery and baijan in Soviet times, is today, for most keeps a close eye on sermons, speeches
18 wounded was the highest confirmed years. At Februarys annual Munich strictly to its side of the internationally practical purposes, an appendage of and other activities at mosques in order
number of victims in the first month of a security conference, he complained that recognised border with Armenia. more Armenia. However, like the Turkish to snuff out Islamist militancy.
year since a ceasefire halted a 1992-94 western powers were guilty of double For Baku, a related consideration is Cypriot breakaway state in northern On the economic front, a sharp drop
war between the two former Soviet standards, by imposing sanctions on the exposed position of Nakhchivan, an Cyprus, Karabakh is isolated in the in oil prices over the past 12 months has
republics. That conflict killed at least Russia for its actions in Ukraine, yet autonomous exclave that is vulnerable international community. Its officials slammed the brakes on Azerbaijans
20,000 people and turned more than 1m taking no meaningful steps to secure to Armenian pressure because Arme- are excluded from the peace process, once spectacular growth rates and
into refugees. Armenias compliance with UN resolu- nian land, next to the occupied territo- being represented by Armenia a shut slashed its state revenues, which
The latest clashes are on a less fright- tions that call for its withdrawal from ries, cuts it off from the rest of Azerbai- door at which they chafe. depend largely on hydrocarbon produc-
ful scale, but international monitors say Azerbaijani land. jan to the east. Russia and Turkey view Since 2007, mediators have tried to tion and exports. It forced the govern-
the 2014 death toll of about 60 people Azerbaijan has increased military themselves as guarantors of Nakh- build an agreement on the so-called ment on February 21 to devalue the
was the worst for 20 years. The risks spending over the past decade so that it chivans status. Madrid Principles, which foresee a manat by roughly a third against the
are increasing. The nature of the con- is now double the size of Armenias With the US and France, Russia leads phased Armenian withdrawal from dollar and euro.
frontation on the front line is becoming entire state budget. Among Bakus main the Minsk Group, which, under the most of the occupied lands around A long period of low oil prices would
more dangerous. Its not just snipers any arms suppliers are Israel and Russia. auspices of the Organisation for Secu- Karabakh and an eventual popular vote test the countrys economic model and
more. Its attack helicopters, artillery In commercial, military and political rity and Co-operation in Europe on the regions status. At bottom, it may perhaps also the patience of its people,
and more, says one European official. terms, however, Armenia is more (OSCE), has tried without success to be that neither Armenian nor Azerbai- millions of whom have been lifted out of
Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev, the closely aligned with Moscow. Russias broker a Karabakh settlement for 22 jani society is psychologically ready for poverty thanks to exploitation of the
Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents, 102nd Military Base is located at years. Moscows alliance with Armenia, the concessions necessary to achieve a countrys oil and gas reserves. For all the
met on three occasions between August Gyumri, Armenias second city. In Janu- its arms sales to Azerbaijan and its 2008 non-military solution. progress of the past 20 years, Azerbaijan
and October 2014 for talks brokered by ary Armenia, unlike Azerbaijan, joined military strike in Georgia, which Given the breadth and depth of the remains a society with enormous differ-
Russia, then the US, then France. But Russian president Vladimir Putins resulted in that republics de facto propaganda on both sides, the younger ences in wealth separating the political,
none of these meetings advanced the cherished Eurasian Economic Union, dismemberment at Russias hands, generations may not be receptive to bureaucratic and economic elites from
prospects for a lasting peace settlement. which unites Russia with several other raise questions about the Kremlins compromise, says an official from an the masses.
Instead, military expenditure, former Soviet republics. true intentions in the Minsk Group. OSCE nation. For now, the government hopes time
Azerbaijan
as oil price
fund, Sofaz, in 2006, it had
$1.2bn in assets under
management, 30 staff, and
only invested in one asset
class fixed income.
O
happened in the past 10 Movsumov, Sofaz chief
n a Friday afternoon in would pressure banks asset quality. years, he says.
mid-February Elman Rus- That the Azerbaijani central bank Speaking in Sofazs Beijing, Mr Movsumov says.
tamov told the FT: You could no longer maintain the stability of gleaming new 107m office And it is looking to expand in
h ave c o m e t o a h o t the currency underlines the extent to building, which boasts its own private equity by making an
kitchen. Everything is which the slide in oil prices has upended gold vault, Mr Movsumov is investment in a large western
burning. the governments economic plans. conscious of the weight of fund.
That weekend, Azerbaijans central The cause for the move was a large- expectations on his fund. This industry is completely
bank governor put an end to the dollar scale flight from the manat by local As Azerbaijan faces up to new for Azerbaijan. We have
peg for the manat that had held since depositors. Mr Rustamov said ahead of its toughest year since the oil built a world class asset
mid-2011. A week later, after an abor- the devaluation that the central bank boom began more than a management company in a
tive attempt to manage a gradual weak- had spent about $1bn in a month decade ago, the country is country without any legacy of
ening of the currency, the central bank defending the peg, as savers shifted looking to Sofaz to save the asset management, says Mr
shocked the nation by announcing a money into dollars. The proportion of economy. For the first time Movsumov.
new manat-dollar exchange rate 34 per deposits held in dollars had risen 4-5 since the oil fund was founded The next step will be to
cent weaker than before. percentage points in the first six weeks in 1999, the government will open an office abroad, most
Vahid Ahmadov, an MP and member of the year to 40 per cent, he said. draw down some of its money. likely in London, he says,
of the parliamentary economic policy In the week ahead of the devaluation, This is exactly the role of although he will not say when.
committee, railed that the central bank depositors were buying $500m a day, Digging deep: problem for the government, whose revenues, implementing a highly the fund and the framework In the meantime, he has a
had deceived us, the deputies, and the according to president Aliyev. falling revenues 2015 budget, drawn up under an unpopular tax on deposit income from that was foreseen since the domestic economic crisis to
whole people of Azerbaijan. More broadly, the fall in oil prices has have led to assumption of $90-a-barrel, envisaged January, as well as other levies on beginning. We are testing the help avert. Mr Movsumov says
The pressure had been building on Mr put a heavy strain on government job cuts Sofaz would this year fund just over half imports of luxury goods such as cars and concept of the volatility the fund will probably be able
Rustamov for months, as oil prices tum- finances. Oil and gas account for 95 per Jeyhum Abdulla Bloomberg the budget revenues, spending a total of yachts. Executives say it is also taking reducer, or buffer, says Mr to draw down several billion
bled by more than 50 per cent from cent of Azerbaijans exports, 75 per cent 11.8bn manat worth $15.1bn before informal steps, such as delaying tax Movsumov. dollars without making any
their summer 2014 peak, and the cur- of its government revenues, and 40 per the devaluation and $11.2bn after it. refunds, to boost its resources. The heightened importance asset sales, thanks to the
rencies of neighbouring countries, such cent of its GDP. In theory, this kind of countercyclical Mr Ibadoglu says that falling oil reve- of its role will throw the short-dated maturities of its
as the Russian rouble, Georgian lari and Mr Rustamov said that if oil prices spending was just what the state oil fund nues have prompted state-owned com- spotlight on Sofaz, which is in fixed income portfolio, still 80
Turkish lira, suffered sharp falls. averaged $50 a barrel, the balance of was set up to do. panies to cut jobs. The economic and the process of transforming per cent of assets.
Right up until the new exchange rate payments surplus would be five times During the good times, weve accu- social situation is getting worse by the itself from a conservative I think we are in better
was announced on February 21, Azerba- smaller than last years level of The mulated quite significant reserves, says day. The government didnt have any savings pot for excess oil shape that any other big
ijani politicians insisted that Baku
would not undertake a big devaluation,
$10bn-$11bn. Moreover, at an oil price
of $50 a barrel, the revenues of Sofaz,
economic Shahmar Movsumov, chief executive of
Sofaz. This is the first year we will prob-
alternative but to devalue.
International agencies, such as the
revenue to a sophisticated
global investor.
reserve-accumulating country.
Look what is happening in
with President Ilham Aliyev telling par- the state oil fund which receives the and social ably see some drawdowns from the European Bank for Reconstruction and In recent years, it has Venezuela or Iran which dont
liament in January that the stability of
the manat demonstrates the success of
earnings from the governments energy
sector stakes, would fall from last years
situation is fund. This is exactly the role of the fund.
Were testing the concept.
Development, are predicting a slow-
down in growth to 1.5 per cent, from 2.8
moved beyond the staid world
of bonds, adding equities,
have reserves the fiscal
impact is enormous, he says.
our economic policy. $16.3bn to just $4.7bn, according to getting However, he added that the oil fund per cent in 2014. But even that may be gold and real estate to its The vision that was put in
Indeed, a stunned Azerbaijani popu-
lation queued for hours at exchange
Gubad Ibadoglu, an independent econo-
mist who heads Bakus Economic
worse by will most probably spend less than 10
per cent of its $37bn reserves.
optimistic. If we get to the end of the
year in positive growth for GDP, I would
portfolio. It expects to start
investing in China imminently,
place is resilient, and we can
go two to three years with this
points in the wake of the devaluation, Research Centre, a think-tank. the day Even before the devaluation, the gov- classify that as a success, says Neil having just received approval situation.
while Moodys warned that the move Those falling revenues have created a ernment was taking steps to shore up its McKain, head of the EBRDs Baku office. for a 3bn renminbi quota from Jack Farchy
Azerbaijan
B
2013, which would deliver Caspian gas struction in Baku. When Azerbaijan signed a deal with ate the terms of its involvement as a Turkmen gas, making Azerbaijan a key
aku has a long history as an directly to Europe, starting in 2020. BP, which is leading the development BP and other international oil transit country for the project, creating part of Europes strategy to diversify its
oil town. From Black City, Little more than a year later, however, of the Shah Deniz II gasfield as part of companies to develop the Azeri- a ripple of concern in Azerbaijan. energy supplies away from Russia.
the 19th century suburb the projects economics are under scru- the project, has already committed Chirag-Guneshli field in 1994, it was Nonetheless, analysts expect Azerbai- But these grand plans are increasingly
known for its oily grime, to tiny amid a tumble in oil prices that is $10bn in contracts, says Gordon Birrell, dubbed the contract of the jan to resolve these issues. under threat amid falling oil prices and
modern architectural extrav- also dragging down natural gas prices in the oil companys regional head, making century. The government views the Southern lower appetite for big investments
aganzas such as the three flame-shaped Europe. a reversal highly unlikely. The deal has delivered Gas Corridor as a major strategic invest- among the worlds oil majors.
towers that dominate the citys skyline, Two of the partners in the project, The fall in oil prices has complicated spectacular wealth, with the field ment for the country, says Livia Paggi, a In December, Russia threw another
oil has for more than a century been a Total and Statoil, have sold their stakes things, however. accounting for three-quarters of Central Asia and Caucasus analyst at spanner in the works, announcing it
central part of the identity of Azerbaijan since the final investment decision was Of the overall $45bn cost of develop- national oil production. risk consultancy GPW, adding that would abandon the 63bcm a year South
and its capital. signed, amid grumblings about its ing the field and building 3,500km of Now the fields future is Sofaz may seek to issue a eurobond to Stream pipeline project across the Black
But now Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli, the expected profitability. pipelines from Azerbaijan to Italy, some uncertain: the 1994 production help fund its commitments to finance Sea and redirect it via Turkey instead,
enormous field offshore in the Caspian Mr Nassirov concedes that the project $10bn-$12bn is scheduled to be funded sharing agreement expires in 2024, the project. where, if realised, it would be in direct
Sea whose development since 1994 has will be less attractive in a lower oil price by Socar and the Azerbaijani govern- and negotiations are continuing. With plans to deliver 10bn cubic competition with Azerbaijani gas.
spurred Bakus most recent oil boom, is environment it would break even at ment, according to Shahmar Mov- Gordon Birrell, regional president metres to Europe a year, the size of the While the supplies from Shah Deniz
moving into terminal decline. And an oil price of about $60 a barrel, he sumov, chief executive of Sofaz, the for BP, says the company will Shah Deniz II project is relatively mod- are already contracted, Russian gas
Azerbaijan is trying to reinvent itself as says, compared with recent prices of state oil fund. continue to invest even without a est. Gazprom managers, who sell about could displace other Azerbaijani
a leading producer and transit hub for below $50. With oil prices falling, Baku is new production sharing agreement, 150bcm to the continent annually, have projects, given limited pipeline capacity,
natural gas. But he says there is no talk of scrap- rethinking how it will fund its share of but that its probably a different joked that it is just about enough for a says Gulmira Rzayeva, research associ-
Elshad Nassirov, vice-president for ping the flagship investment: Of the project, Mr Nassirov says. We are shape of investment profile. barbecue. ate at the Oxford Institute for Energy
marketing and investments at Socar, the course, we will be affected [by the fall in changing our views, first of all because But Azerbaijans ambitions in gas Studies.
on the sporting
world map Economic promise
Baku Games Construction and upgrade costs are
is tied to Silk Road
in the range of $3bn-$7bn, reports Jack Farchy
Azerbaijans trade statistics tell a pretty clear story about the
Bakus national stadium is a hive of Games this year is 950m manat, accord- oil-rich countrys recent economic history.
activity. In every direction, teams of ing to a statement by the sports minister Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the government in
workers are rushing to put the finishing ahead of Februarys devaluation, but Baku has looked west and to Europe in particular in pursuit
touches to the 68,000-seat arena in time economists estimate that the cost, of its commercial ambitions.
for the opening ceremony of the inaugu- including the construction of stadiums The EU is the destination for almost half of Azerbaijans
ral European Games in June. and upgrading of infrastructure, to be in exports (about 95 per cent of which are oil and gas) and the
One group is laying the running track; the range of $3bn-$7bn. This year alone, source of more than a third of its imports. Although China is
another is painting the stands; yet spending linked to the Games is budg- almost inescapably everyones biggest trading partner, it
another team is laying kerbs and plant- eted to account for a quarter of the gov- accounted for just 5.3 per cent of Azerbaijans imports in
ing trees in the little patches of grass ernments entire capital expenditures. 2013 and did not even make the top five export destinations,
outside the stadium. Everyone is feeling it here in terms of according to the World Trade Organisation.
The mad dash to finish everything in funding thats available. But the govern- But the tides of history are shifting again. Power politics
time for the opening ceremony a com- ment has been very supportive in terms are on the ascendancy in the world and Azerbaijan may just
mon theme of big sporting events has of ringfencing funding for the Games, find itself a beneficiary, if only because it sits firmly in the
acquired greater urgency in Bakus says Mr Clegg, noting that the Gamess path of Chinas latest ambitions.
case as the city has had less than three organising committee has made a Xi Jinping, Chinas president, has made restoring the
years to prepare, compared to the usual modest budget reduction in response ancient Silk Road between China and Europe one of Beijings
seven-year lead time. to the tougher economic climate. biggest priorities, most recently allocating $40bn to a fund to
Its a remarkably short window for a Even with reductions, the Games are rebuild and improve infrastructure on the overland route
project this size, says Ron Cameron, the still a huge logistical undertaking, fea- through Central Asia and the Caucasus.
venue manager for the stadium. I had turing 20 sports, 6,076 athletes, and 759 The move is seen by many as Beijings response to a push
my doubts when I got here, but theyve medals. Finishing line: third division, including the national Baku would contradict the very spirit by the US and Japan to set up their own Pacific trade bloc,
got it all done. A brainchild of the International the vast national team of Azerbaijan. of the Olympics. the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And with good reason:
Azerbaijan is no stranger to mega Olympic Committee, they were stadium in Baku Beyond athletics, though, the organis- Mr Clegg concedes that the European Washington has unashamedly been selling that Pacific pact
projects. But the Baku Games, which designed as a counterpart the fifth nears completion ers are confident that the continents top Games do not yet have a sufficiently as its response to Chinas rise and its opportunity to make
will run for just over two weeks from Olympic ring to other continental athletes will make the trip to Baku. high profile to attract large numbers of sure it can beat Beijing to the punch in setting the rules of the
June 12, are perhaps its most grandiose Olympic competitions held in the Theres only ever one first European foreign tourists. road for the global economy. Moreover, the sales pitch in the
project yet. Americas, Asia, Africa and the Pacific. Games champion, says Pierce OCalla- Realistically, many of the ticket sales US is much the same for an even larger transatlantic trade
The government sees the Games as But, as the first European Games, suc- ghan, director of sport at the Baku will come from [the] domestic public, agreement with the EU.
the first step in a broader strategy to use cess is not a given. Weve had to go to Games. As important, the organisers he says. Why should that competition between the worlds
sport to promote Azerbaijans soft the commercial marketplace, be it have succeeded in making 11 of the Among that public, though, some economic megaliths matter in Baku?
power on the world stage. They are the sponsors or broadcasters with a blank events qualifying competitions for the have already caught the Olympic bug. There are the small matters of geography and history.
first big instalment in a series of flagship piece of paper and a bunch of promises. 2016 Olympics in Rio. The organising committee has had Azerbaijan once sat on the Silk Road, a strategically placed
sporting events that the country plans Theres no track record, says Mr Clegg. That means athletes will be very 29,000 applications to volunteer during pit-stop for traders travelling between China and Europe
to host, from a Formula 1 Grand Prix Revenues from those sources are not motivated to come, says Mr OCalla- the Games, and has a thriving graduate or heading north into Russia and south into what is
next year, to the Islamic Solidarity what we might aspire for them to be. ghan. scheme. now Iran.
Games in 2017, to several matches in the Another challenge has been to attract A more difficult question is whether The enthusiasm of the graduate train- And then there is the consensus on where the future of the
Euro 2020 football championship. the continents best athletes. Here, the the Games will achieve the desired pro- ees is contagious. When Baku was cho- global economy lies. As any
There is also speculation of a bid for the organisers were stymied by the rela- motional boost for Azerbaijan in the sen to host the Games in 2012, I was chief executive of a Power politics are on
2024 Olympics. tively late decision to hold the games in world. They are likely to become a light- really proud, says Turgut Qambarov, multinational consumer
This is the great coming-out party of 2015 the European Athletics Team ning rod for critics of the countrys a 21-year-old member of the Gamess products company will tell the ascendancy in
Azerbaijan, says Simon Clegg, chief
operating officer of the Games.
Championships, an established fixture
in the calendar, were already scheduled
deteriorating human rights record, with
several of the countrys most prominent
graduate scheme, who says with pride
that he is one of only two local staff
you, when it comes to
expanding your business,
the world and
It is an expensive party, though, at a to be held in Moscow this June. activists languishing in jail. working on the timekeeping and results Asia and its emerging Azerbaijan may just
time when Azerbaijans government While the Baku Games will have an In a letter to the FT from prison, Leyla team. middle class represent both
revenues are being squeezed by the slide athletics competition, it will not feature Yunus, one of the countrys leading When I wake up in the morning I the present and the future. find itself a
in oil prices. The official budget of the Europes best teams but instead the activists, said that holding the Games in think: I am doing results, he beams. There are definitely signs beneficiary
that Azerbaijans president,
Ilham Aliyev, who inherited the post from his father in 2003,
understands that.