The chairman of the Justice, Law, Democracy (JLD) Party, Member of Parliament Gudrat Hasanquliyev, shared his views during the discussion of the draft law on amendments to the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On the Agrarian Sector”, the Civil Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On Credit Unions”, “On the Budget System”, “On Phytosanitary Control”, and “On Environmentally Friendly Agriculture” in the first reading at the plenary session of the parliament held today.
The Member of Parliament stated: “Dear Chairman, first of all, I congratulate you and the members of the delegation on your successful visit to Kyrgyzstan.
Regarding the draft law under discussion, I would like to note that the explanatory note submitted to us states that the “draft law aims to ensure the sustainable development of rural areas, increase productivity and production efficiency in the agrarian sector, protect the interests of agrarian sector entities, and ensure a unified approach to the agrarian sector”.
Over the past 10 years, four strategic documents have been signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan to ensure the development of agriculture and the processing industry. On December 6, 2016, a strategic roadmap for the production and processing of agricultural products was adopted by presidential decree. On July 15, 2021, an action plan for the development of production and the processing industry in the agrarian sector was approved. Furthermore, on July 22, 2022, again by presidential order, a decree on the socio-economic development strategy was signed, and on May 25, 2026, a state program for the development of agricultural, fishing, and aquaculture production and processing sectors was adopted.”
The Member of Parliament added: “This shows that the head of state, i.e., the country’s leadership, is very interested in the development of agriculture; this is a matter of the country’s food security. But unfortunately, the situation in this area is not improving. I looked at the statistics for the last three years. For example, in 2023, we imported $2.16 billion worth of food products from abroad; in 2024, that figure increased significantly to $2.475 billion, and in 2025, it increased slightly to 2.591 billion manats. In the last three years, there has been an overall increase of 20% and $431 million.
In addition, over the last three years, there has been an 18.6% increase in the prices of food products. Why am I mentioning this? Because the adoption of numerous documents does not change the situation in this area for the better. Now we will adopt two more laws.
I believe the main reason for this is related to the volume of investment in this sector. I do not have the figures for 2025, but I have reviewed the documents for 2024, and if the total investment in the country in that year exceeded 21 billion, only 563.4 million manats were invested in agriculture, fishing, and forestry combined. Why is the private sector not investing in this area? One of the reasons is the lack of a favorable business environment. My colleagues who spoke before me made certain proposals in this regard, and I do not want to repeat them.”
Gudrat Hasanquliyev pointed out that numerous processing enterprises should be established so that these processing plants can accept products grown in household plots from citizens, and also collect these products from small entrepreneurs: “For example, if someone is engaged in beekeeping and produces 200 kilograms of honey, they should be able to sell it. To facilitate this, we will now adopt a law on ‘product certificates’.
The attempt to sell the products produced by small entrepreneurs and farmers through ‘product certificates’ with prior announcement will undoubtedly not be justified. For this, there must be a processing enterprise that can collect this honey from citizens, package it well, and direct it to the domestic and foreign markets. For example, we cannot sell honey abroad because it contains antibiotic residues, pesticides, and other harmful substances. However, processing enterprises that accept this honey will inform citizens about this, and the products will be tested in the laboratory, and people will be told where to locate bee colonies, how to protect them, etc. For this, it is necessary to develop the processing industry for the development of agriculture. For this purpose, small entrepreneurs should be provided with long-term loans on preferential terms and at low-interest rates.”
Qudrat Hasanquliyev
“The adoption of numerous documents does not change the situation in this area for the better” – Gudrat Hasanquliyev
