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Azerbaijan in brief

• land area 86,600 km2
• population 9.8 m
• main towns (population in thousands, January 1st, 2015) Baku (capital): 2,200; Sumgait: 333; Ganja: 328
• language Azeri (a Turkic language) is the state language; Russian use is
being phased out, but it’s still widely spoken
• currency Manat, introduced as legal tender in 1993 to replace the rouble;
in January 2006 a new manat was introduced
• time four hours ahead of GMT (five hours ahead in summer)
Economics (USD million)
• GDP (US$ m; market exchange rate) 53,048
• GDP (US$ m; purchasing power parity) 172,082
• GDP per head (US$; market exchange rate) 5,439
• GDP per head (US$; purchasing power parity) 17,642
• exchange rate (av) Manat: US$ 1.025
Historical averages 2011-2015
• population growth 1.4%
• real GDP growth 2.2%
• real domestic demand growth 6.6%
• inflation 3.4%
• current-account balance (% of GDP) 15.7%
• FDI inflows (% of GDP) 9.5%
• main export product (% of total) petroleum products 91,4%
• main import product (% of total) machinery and equipment 28,1%
• leading markets: Italy 25.7%; Germany 12.9%
• leading suppliers Russia 25.9%; Turkey 21.5%

(source: Economist well as major downstream projects. tional refineries, the Heydar Alyiev Oil Refinery and
Intelligence Business Unit) The changing global energy markets in fact require the Azerneftyag Refinery. This will enable the plants
companies to react and quickly adapt to feedstock to operate jointly and they are now undergoing a
prices volatility, as national oil companies such as complete modernization process.
Socar are recording strong efforts to implement This strategic redevelopment is tightly connected
strategies able to offset the significant decrease of with another key initiative, the Sumgayit Industrial
oil prices. Development Park, a recently established district
Therefore., these relevant swift changes in market by presidential decree which benefits from tax in-
trends created the opportunity for oil producing centives for a limited time period, aimed at diver-
countries to increase their economic diversifica- sifying the Azeri economy by becoming a hub for
tion efforts. As a result, starting from 2016, the chemical and other industries in the Caspian re-
Country’s downstream priority includes a signi- gion. The feedstock produced at the two refineries,
ficant number of projects, both in chemicals and currently under modernization, will be destined to
petrochemicals and fertilizers. A year ago, a major the “petrochemical industrial residents” of the Park,
merger was carried out between the two main na- enabling Socar to leverage on its boosted oil pro-
duction in order to become an exporter in the pla-
stics market, and at the same time relatively reduce
the dependency from imports of plastic products,
as a first step for a sustainable inner growth. Azer-
baijan’s downstream value chain is starting is star-
ting to take shape and this is the right time to be
involved in such a strategic process.

Maire Tecnimont Group’s stand at Caspian Oil & Gas Exhibition 2016 Maire Tecnimont Group’s
prominent role in the Country

Maire Tecnimont Group exhibited at the Caspian
Oil & Gas 2016 and attended the conference, sin-
ce its involvement in the Country has significantly
increased during the last year, and it now plays a
crucial role for the enhancement of Azerbaijan’s

Impiantistica Italiana - Luglio-Agosto 2016 79