Ilham Aliyev: Interest in investments in Azerbaijan remains very high

We highly value this partnership, which, as you have already mentioned, has been ongoing for more than thirty years. It has played a decisive role in transforming our country, because when bp and Azerbaijan began their joint activities in 1994, Azerbaijan was a country with serious problems. At that time, we had a million homeless people, deported, subjected to ethnic cleansing as a result of Armenian aggression. Our treasury was empty. We lacked electricity, and even oil production volumes were rapidly declining. The prospects for success were very low.

As reported by BAKU.WS, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev stated this at a meeting with a delegation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

"Attracting investments from international oil companies, mainly bp and others, was the only way for us to survive and build a state. The trust that bp and other companies placed in us played a decisive role, and we will never forget this. And since then, for more than thirty years, there have never been any disagreements or any legal disputes, nothing. So this is truly a good example of cooperation between a host country and major energy companies.

Now our cooperation is transitioning to the field of renewable energy sources. bp is participating in the construction of a 240-megawatt solar power plant in the city of Jabrayil, which was under occupation until 2020. The decarbonization of the largest oil and gas terminal in Sangachal is also a major contribution by bp to the environmental agenda. There are also many other plans, existing and new projects, including increasing gas production, which we hope to see this year within the framework of the project for developing deep-water reservoirs of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli field. As well as stabilizing oil production, which is important for all of us. We have established very good relations with all energy companies with which we have worked and continue to work very effectively. I think that is why the interest in investing in Azerbaijan remains very high, even despite the ongoing decline in oil production for objective reasons," the head of state emphasized.