Differences exist between companies and official indicators in report on extractive industry

According to the information given from the NGO Coalition to Improve Transparency in Extractive Industries, this report covering January-June months of 2005 also includes the reference given by the audit company on the basis of the analysis of individual reports presented by oil-and-gas producing companies.

It was revealed during the audit conducted by the AGN Mak Company that difference in volume of 1.4 million barrels of oil had occurred between the report presented by companies in connection with profit oil production and official indicators. Differences concerning taxes were also revealed in the report.

"Although there are serious differences in the report, this report is more perfect than the previous one. Difference concerning profit oil is related to the fact that the data was given to the government after sale of oil and the report delayed," APA was told by the coordinator of the NGO Coalition to Improve Transparency in Extractive Industries Sabit Baghirov.

According to S.Baghirov, SOCAR did not present any information when receiving profit oil. "Other shortcomings are related to the delay of documentations. In general, there are no losses concerning profit oil," he said.

"Companies show in their reports that they handed over 5.7 million barrels of profit oil to the government, but the government indicates that it received 4.7 million barrels of profit oil," APA was told it by the member of the Coalition, head of the Public Finance Monitoring Centre Ingilab Ahmadov. As to occurrence of differences, according to I.Ahmadov, it is concerned with the following reasons: although companies handed over 1.003 million barrels of oil in the first half of the period under review, the government received it in July of the past year and this difference will be reflected in the general report of 2005. “In general, there are no losses here. This difference will be completely eliminated in the final report of the year. Differences occur because reporting periods do not coincide with each-other," he added.