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Gudrat Hasanguliyev, Chairman of the Justice, Law, and Democracy (AHD) Party and Member of Parliament, spoke at today’s plenary session of the parliament, sharing his views during the first reading of the draft law on amendments to the Law “On Investment Activity”.
“Elchi” reports that the Member of Parliament stated:
“This amendment will create serious problems for investment in the country.
Respected Azer Amiraslanov tried throughout his speech to justify that this actually protects property, that there is international experience here, etc. First of all, we can use international experience when it does not contradict our Constitution.
Article 29, Part 4 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan states that property can only be alienated for state needs. Just now, a little earlier, we amended both the Civil Code and the Law “On the Acquisition of Lands for State Needs” and said that lands can be acquired for state needs, as well as for the purpose of expanding airports.
Furthermore, according to Article 13 of the Constitution, property cannot be used against the interests of the state. That is, in that case, of course, the relevant state bodies must take measures.
Look, now we are preparing to build a data base in Azerbaijan with the United States. For this, modern technology will be brought by the United States. This investment was made, new technology came, and after a while, we, for example, said that, you know, information is collected here and the United States can seize this information, so for state security, we are buying it, take the money and leave. Or let investment be made in the energy sector.
I remember, in 1992–1993, when I worked in the prosecutor’s office, a criminal case was initiated by the Baku City Prosecutor’s Office. At that time, fuel was not sold to the population at many gas stations in Baku in order to create mass discontent, even though there was fuel.
Then it turns out that all gas stations, bread factories, mills, telecommunications, transport services – all are strategically important areas. Suppose bread factories stopped baking bread, or supermarkets stopped selling. It turns out that we can say to any business entity, whether it is a citizen, a foreign investor, or an Azerbaijani investor, it does not matter – we can say to them that, you know, your activity may harm the interests of the state and the people, so we are taking it from you.
In this case, who will invest in Azerbaijan? I repeat once again that the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan does not allow this. We have noted which cases are state needs. In addition, as respected Azer Amiraslanov noted, there are issues related to requisition. That is, additional cases beyond this are also determined.
Azer muellim did not give an example either. For example, I say, in what cases can the application of this law be allowed? Because, as I said, there is no counting the number of such cases. This is a serious threat to property inviolability. Any foreign investor will understand that his property, the investment he has made, can be taken from him at any time.
Including citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan. We have already seen in recent years that investment in the country’s economy is decreasing, and the ratio between funds entering and leaving the country is to our detriment, that is, there is an imbalance. We must also take this into account.
By adopting this law, we are becoming more closed off. We have been keeping the borders closed for many years for security purposes. Now, for security purposes, amending this law in this way, I believe, is not against the protection of the state’s interests and security, but against the state’s security. Because the state’s security can only be ensured when the state has a strong economy.
And with this, we are seriously hindering the establishment of a strong economy.
Therefore, I ask that representatives of the executive power who come up with this legislative initiative be invited to the next meeting. Let them come and give us more detailed information about, for example, which areas they can privatize.”