Over 300 state properties privatized in 2016

By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

Over 300 new state-owned enterprises and facilities declared open for privatization in Azerbaijan last year, said Kerem Hasanov, the head of Azerbaijan’s State Committee on Property Issues

Hasanov, addressing a meeting on the works, carried out in 2016 and future goals, mentioned that the privatization process started according to the presidential decree dated July 19, 2016 and relevant order of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The list was announced to potential local and foreign investors via the committee's electronic information resources.  

"Privatization portal" has been launched to ensure transparency, optimality and modernity in the privatization process. Portal users now exceed 400,000.

During 2016, property rights to nearly 172,000 real estate have been registered across the country. Some 50, 000 of this figure related to initial registration, while 122,000 re-registration. Compared with 2015, number of extracts on initial registration increased by 18.7 percent, technical certificates by 4.5 percent in 2016.

The Committee received 5,315 annual reports from the state enterprises and joint stock companies. A total of 91 percent of them were received in electronic form.

He went on to say that the work on electronic cadastre has completed in 12 regions of Azerbaijan. As a result, digital cadastral maps were drawn up. Moreover, the graphic image of the coastal line of Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea was prepared by the Committee and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

The Chairman added that work is carried out within the 2016-2020 State Program for cadastre of real estate and development of land management. The program envisages formation of a single state real estate cadastre, improvement of the efficiency of land use and protection, and creation of a single information base on lands.

Hasanov said that Azerbaijan for the first time has occupied the 20th place out of 129 countries in the ranking by "Property rights Alliance." In addition, Azerbaijan took leading position in the World Bank "Doing Business" report in terms of simplicity of the real estate registration.

Azerbaijan's State Committee on Property Issues was established under a presidential decree dated May 19, 2014. The Committee is the central executive body implementing state policy and regulation on real estate management and its privatization, involving investments and conducting state registration and cadastre of real estate in Azerbaijan.