Government-by-Government Assessments: Azerbaijan
During the review period, budget documents and debt obligations were publicly available, including online, and provided a substantially complete picture of the government’s revenues, including natural resource revenues. While budget documents did not fully disaggregate allocations to or earnings from state-owned enterprises, more detailed information was available through other public documents. Audited financial statements for significant, large state-owned enterprises were publicly available online. Information in budget documents was generally reliable. Azerbaijan’s supreme audit institution audited the government’s annual executed budget, and its reports and opinions on state budget execution were publicly available within a reasonable period of time. However, the criteria and procedures by which the national government awards contracts or licenses for natural resource extraction—particularly for oil production sharing agreements—were only partially specified in law, regulation, or public documents. It is not clear to what extent the government followed applicable laws and regulations for awarding contracts or licenses for natural resource extraction. Basic information on such awards was made publicly available after contracts were awarded. The country’s sovereign wealth fund discloses its source of funding and general approach to withdrawals. Azerbaijan’s fiscal transparency would be improved by:
- specifying fully in law or regulation the criteria and procedures for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and following applicable laws and regulations in practice.