Labor Ministry set to open DOST centers in regions

By Azernews

By Rasana Gasimova

The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of Population plans to open at least eight Centers for Sustainable and Operational Social Security (DOST centers) in Baku and the regions in 2020, Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population Sahil Babayev has said.

“We have generally aggressive, in a good way, goals for developing a network of DOST centers. Currently, two DOST centers operate in Baku. The third center in the capital will open in two months. In addition, we plan to open one more center in Baku next year,” Babayev told local media.

He also noted that the Labor Ministry in 2020 will begin work to open centers in the country's regions: Guba, Sheki, Barda, Sumgait, Sabirabad, Ganja, and Absheron district.

“We hope that at least 6 of these centers will begin to function next year,” he said.

Babayev added that the implementation of these plans will allow to cover 60 percent of the population and 40 percent of the country's territory by DOST centers.

He stressed that it is planned to open 31 DOST centers in Azerbaijan, including five in Baku.

DOST centers are created to provide a significant part of state social services (labor and employment, types of social security, pensions, social insurance and other services) through operational simplified procedures.

The centers are expected to provide 132 different types of social services to citizens, 91 of them being electronic. Currently, more than 20 types of electronic services are provided to the population in DOST centers. Every center is expected to employ approximately 100-150 people.

As many as 31 DOST centers are planned to be opened in Baku and regions by 2025: five in Baku, two in Sumgayit and Ganja, and the rest in other regions of the country. The services will be rendered to 2.8 million people.