Nakhchivan State Customs Committee abolished

On November 28, the State Customs Committee of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan was abolished. In its place, an institution was created under the authority of the General Customs Department: the Azerbaijan State Customs Committee. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed decrees about this.

The decision to dissolve the Nakhchivan Customs Committee was made in the aftermath of State Security Service arrests at the Nakhchivan Customs. Before that, the Nakhchivan State Security Service was abolished, and a document was signed on the establishment of the regional office of the Azerbaijan State Security Service directly subordinate to Baku. Previously, these institutions were subject to the Supreme Assembly of Nakhchivan.

Minister of Finance of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic gets arrested

On November 26, the Sabail District Court of Baku presided over by Judge Ulviyya Shukurova, chose a four-month preventive measure against Rafael Aliyev, the Minister of Finance of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, in the ongoing criminal case at the State Security Service.

The Minister of Finance is found guilty under Article 179.4 of the Criminal Code (embezzlement or embezzlement, when committed by causing significant damage). Rafael Aliyev is accused of misappropriating EUR 81 million of state funds.

Subsidy allocated to Nakhchivan from the state budget for next year to be reduced 

At the meeting in the Azerbaijani Parliament, Azerbaijani Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said that the subsidy allocated to Nakhchivan from the state budget for next year would be reduced by EUR 17.6 million.

The Minister said that the Head Office of the State Security Service in Nakhchivan will be financed from the central expenses of the state budget: "31.1 million manats [EUR 17.6 million] reduced from the subsidy to Nakhchivan will be used to open new embassies and ensure their operation, to attract legal advisers to protect the interests of Azerbaijan in international activities, to ensure the security of embassies. 4.1 million manats [EUR 2.3 million] of the remaining funds will be directed to the expenses of the Milli Majlis [the Azerbaijani Parliament], and 11.1 million manats [EUR 6.3 million] will be directed to the auxiliary department of the defense and national security expenditure department."

Opinion from MPs

MP Etibar Aliyev said, "Only 22 percent of the budget of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is formed due to local revenues. To be precise, only 85 million manats [EUR 48.2 million] out of 385 million manats [EUR 218.5 million] are due to local revenues. He said that the rest of the budget of the Autonomous Republic - 300 million manats [EUR 170.3 million] - is subsidized from Baku: "When the head of the country, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, received Vasif Talibov [head of Nakhchivan] a few years ago, he instructed that transparency in the financial and economic spheres should be fully ensured in Nakhchivan today, as in the whole country." "The president even brought an example. He said that as a result of the reforms carried out, the budget revenues increased by 850 million manats [EUR 482 million] in addition to the plan during the ten months of this year: Half of this was formed at the expense of taxes and customs authorities." "Vasif Talibov did not draw any conclusions from these recommendations and assignments. Pay attention to the fact that the corruption of 144 million manats in the last episode is 37 percent of Nakhchivan's budget. This cannot happen outside of Vasif Talibov's will. Talibov's business style is rooted in corruption. For this reason, I rightly proposed Vasif Talibov's resignation. No one should abuse trust," he added.

MP Fazail Agamali, the Chairman of the Motherland Party, spoke about the activities of the State Security Service: "First of all, I would like to say that the State Security Service is showing itself at the highest level with its activities in recent years. Let's admit that as a professional Chekist, Ali Nagiyev, who was appointed as the head of the Security Service by the President of the country Ilham Aliyev, and the team formed by him are ensuring the security of the state. In particular, it is worth noting the steps taken to expose the Iranian intelligence network in our country against foreign threats and the implementation of serious, successful operations in this regard. On the other hand, corruption-related operations, which threaten our statehood and unpleasant actions, have become traditional. These are significant contributions to the strengthening of our statehood. On the other hand, starting from 2019, the reforms implemented by the head of the country in all directions and radical reforms are being continued. Among them, structural reforms occupy an important place. From this point of view, the measures and reforms implemented in connection with the merger of the committees of the ministries of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic into the ministries and committees of Azerbaijan are reforms that can have effective results. It would have been difficult to implement such reforms a few years ago. I would even say that it could not coincide with the existing realities. But after the 44-day war, we not only liberated our lands under occupation but at the same time, the Azerbaijani statehood entered a new stage of its development with its other superior aspects. These reforms have already begun to take on a deeper character. At the same time, it seems that it would be the right step to subordinate ministries and committees operating independently of the central structures of Azerbaijan. Of course, it is one of the important conditions for carrying out continuous and deep reforms."