In Azerbaijan, land provision and financial guarantee mechanisms for investment projects implemented within the framework of public-private partnership are being simplified, and the authority to lease state lands directly to private partners for project implementation is being delegated to the Ministry of Economy.
elchi reports that President Ilham Aliyev has approved the Law providing for amendments to the Land Code, as well as laws on land leasing, land market, privatization of state property, management of municipal lands, and regulated prices.
In addition, the head of state has signed a new Decree on amending the Decree on the application of the Land Code in order to ensure the implementation of the aforementioned law.
According to the amendments to the legislation, in order to implement public-private partnership projects, state-owned land plots can be leased directly to a private partner in accordance with the terms of the competition and the concluded contract. This step has been excluded from the general auction and competition restrictions in the rules of the land market, privatization, and management of municipal lands. Also, to increase the attractiveness of the business environment, if provided for in the set of terms of the competition, an official financial guarantee regarding the level of regulated prices (tariffs) will be provided by the state to the private partner.
According to the implementation decree signed by the President, within the management powers provided for in the relevant articles of the Land Code, the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Azerbaijan will officially carry out the leasing of land plots to private partners for public-private partnership projects. With the decree, the structure of the old 2000 decree regarding the implementation of the Land Code has been regrouped and classified.