Some more economic news from Azerbaijan: 18% growth forecast for 2009

Two articles to share about the economy in Azerbaijan:

The first one is about the growth forecast for 2009, which should be 18%. That's good, though only about half that the year after the BTC Pipeline first went into action. A worrying note there though is that Azerbaijan has had to rethink where to send a lot of its oil after the war in Georgia / South Ossetia:

Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has said a brief war between Russia and Georgia threatened Azerbaijan's export potential.

Azerbaijan borders Georgia, which is its key oil transport route. The country pumps oil to the Mediterranean through the BP-led (BP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline and over Georgian territory to the Black Sea via the Baku-Supsa line.

Azerbaijan's state oil company SOCAR said it expected next year to send up to 400,000 tonnes of crude to a Russian pipeline and not the BP-led Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

It cited instability in Georgia as one of the reasons for the move. An explosion at a bridge disrupted exports of Azeri oil by rail to the Black Sea during the war.

On this list of countries by GDP on Wikipedia Azerbaijan is now 77th on the list (2007 numbers), which is up from 84th in 2006 and 97th the year before.


The other article is a small one, about an Azerbaijan-Norway business forum to take place on September 18th in Oslo. Norway's a perfect example of how a nation with oil riches should manage them, so the more contact between the two the better.

The Azerbaijani Government is ready to develop business relations between Azeri and Norwegian businessmen.

Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO) has already reached the agreement on holding of the first Azerbaijan-Norway Business Forum.

“The Forum will be held on September 18 in Oslo (Norway),” it was informed.