Economic Research Center. Annual Report 2011

Transcription

1 Economic Research Center Annual Report 2011 Baku, 2011

2 Projects Project name: Improving trust, transparency and accountability through E-Governance and Information Technology in 10 municipalities in North Azerbaijan Financial support: The Program for Local Governance (ProLoGo ) of the German Organisation for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) is now the GIZ 1 Period: 15 September September 2011 The main objective of the project was improving the transparency and efficiency in local self-governance bodies, strengthening and supporting their social participation and institutional development. The following points were necessary in order to accomplish the project successfully: increasing the participation of the citizens in formation of the budget (through Citizen Report Cards); strengthening the transparency both in calculation and collection of the municipal taxes and municipal expenses ( transparent budget and applied budget analyze programs, creating accounting cards for the local tax payers etc.); achieving the widely participation of the citizens, especially women in municipal decision-making processes (budget discussions, forming women groups etc.).

3 ANNUAL 2011 The project geographically spanned to 10 municipalities in the northern part of Azerbaijan Guba and Khachmaz regions. During the project, the municipalities were provided with technical equipment like computers, scanners and printers. The problems concerning the citizens were identified through the Citizen Report Cards and these were discussed in the municipalities with the participation of the citizens. The most actual problems were included to the municipal budgets after the discussions. Moreover, the specialists of ERC have installed the transparent budget program in the municipal computers and trained the municipal chiefs and accountants to work with it. Also, additional trainings were organized for them related to the topics of tax legislation and accounting. In the framework of the project online websites were created for all of the municipalities and the municipal tax payers were provided with the Local Tax Payer Code. The websites include the following: The population of the municipal regions (number of people, nationalities, level of education etc.); The lands and detailed maps of the municipalities; Social indicators (education, healthcare, cultural development, social security etc. Each of the sub-categories was provided 2

4 3 with detailed information. For example, education category includes all the educating institutions and the number of people studying there; material-technical supply and their repair levels; employees etc.); Employment (able-bodied population and their employment levels, labor distribution concerning the working people etc.); Economy (Agriculture and Trade. In the first sub-category the information were placed that were about the lands of the municipal territory, arable lands, the level of using them, cultivation in these lands and conditions in the cattle-breeding field. The second sub-category includes information related to the trading and catering facilities in the region); Infrastructure (Communication, Drinkable water, Irrigation water and Heating systems. The first sub-category includes the level of communication systems in the municipalities and the communication facilities; the second includes the supply of drinkable water; the third includes the supply of irrigation water; and the fourth includes the supply level of gas and heating); Citizen Report Card (the main points of CRC surveys, methodology, samples and the results of the surveys in the municipalities) The websites are also provided with separate parts about the members of the municipalities, their chiefs and legislation for the municipalities. Another important point in the websites is the information about the incomes and expenses of the last three yearsbudget of the municipalities. Moreover, the websites have a transition to the tax web-calculator of the ERC. Finally, the websites include Q&A part for answering the questions of the citizens, the transparent budget program and the publications related with the municipalities. ERC has also organized discussions for the purpose of advocacy of the partner municipalities in the TV program Iqtisadi forum ( Economic Forum ) in ANS TV, with the participation of all concerning sides.

5 Name of the project: Assistance to the civil society institutions of Azerbaijan to develop efficient foreign relations Financial support: Open Society Institute - Assistance Foundation Date: 25 October January 2010 The main activity in the framework of this project was organizing a consultancy service to inform the local NGOs about the international and European NGO networks, the principles of their activities etc. and giving recommendations to the local NGOs regarding membership procedures to these networks. During the project the NGOs could get wide assistance from filling the membership forms to the efficient utilization of the Internet resources. The service was in charge from 04 December 2010 to 31 January During the project a general meeting was organized for the NGOs interested with widening their foreign relation; after this, each Saturday took individual consultancies place to the representatives of the NGOs. In the first place, the questions like Why the participation in foreign networks are useful?, What are the main advantages of participation of the NGOs in European 4

6 networks?, Are these kinds of activities contribute to the development? were discussed with the NGOs. Moreover, the leading expert of the service gave detailed information to the NGOs about the international networks like PASOS, IBP, CIVICUS, ENTO, Black Sea NGO Forum, EITI, Rublish What You Pay etc. Especially thorough discussions were held regarding the Policy Association for an Open Society (PASOS), European Network of Training Organizations for Local and Regional Authorities (ENTO), periodically acting Black Sea NGO and Eastern Partnership Civil Society forum. They have looked through the capabilities of these organizations in order to show the advantages of participating in these networks. Also it was noted, that their capabilities span to a wide arrangement from organizing grant competitions to the delegations in various scholarship programs. 5

7 ???? Name of the project: The role of the labor unions in collective negotiations and signing contracts Financial support: Friedrich Ebert Foundation Date: 15 March 28 December 2011 ANNUAL ??????? ERC has carried out the project named The role of the labor unions in collective negotiations and signing contracts with the financial support of Friedrich Ebert Foundation. The main objective of the project is strengthening the roles of labor unions in the collective negotiations through increasing their knowledge and capabilities. The main orientation of the activities during this project was organizing seminars related with the topics like collective negotiations, contract and agreements for the members of the labor unions from Baku, Shaki and Ganja. The following topics are discussed in the seminars: approaching the collective contract that determines the legal norms between the sides of the labor relations as a social partnership act and a special form of labor agreement; the functions of the collective agreements in economic subjects and in their structural sections; the responsibilities of the sides while signing a contract, especially when it is the case with the labor unions; the negotiation rules and principles etc. Moreover, the seminars provided 6

8 7 detailed information about the role of the social dialog in labor relations system, the situation in Azerbaijan Republic in this field, the main legislative acts regulating the activities of the labor unions and the partnership of Azerbaijan with International Labor Organization (ILO). In the seminars it was noted, that Azerbaijan Republic became a member of ILO in 1992 and until that day Azerbaijan has joined its 54 conventions regarding with the protection of labor rights, contracts regulating the relations among employers, employees and labor unions etc. The national labor legislation that was prepared according to these conventions allows the employees establishing labor unions voluntarily without the permission of their employers in any institution or joining the other labor unions in order to protect their labor, social and economic rights and legal interests and participating together with them. In the framework of the project also the publishing named Collective negotiations, contracts and agreements. Guide for members of the labor collectives and trade union organizations was prepared and given to the labor union members.

9 ???? ANNUAL ??????? Name of the project: Promoting the application of compulsory insurance in NGOs in order to strengthen the social status of employees Financial support: The Council of State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Date: 01 April 15 September 2011 The main objective of the project is to increase knowledge and skills of the managers and accountants in NGOs, promote and encourage the new legislation on compulsory insurance to support its implementation. During the project the legislative framework related with the industrial accidents and occupational diseases of the employees was analyzed. Based on this framework, simple and educational brochure named Compulsory insurance: insure whom from what has been published and spread between the interest groups. In addition, methodical seminars were organized for the heads of NGOs, their accountants and managers, related to the 8

10 9 com pul sory insurance mechanism in cases of industrial accidents and occupational diseases that cause to lose working abilities. Within the project framework on the basis of the Law of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the decision No. 192 of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Azerbaijan related with Compulsory insurance in the cases of loss of professional working ability as a result of production accidents and occupational diseases, a web calculator was developed to calculate the amount of insurance fee paid to the insurance company by the employee, and the lump sum insurance fee, in cases when disability is defined to the accident victim without the indication of the next examination period. The calculator was placed in ERC website (

11 Name of the Project: Monitoring the study Abroad State Program: Efficiency and Transparency Financial support: USA Embassy Date: 15 Jun January 2012???? ANNUAL ??????? The major purpose of the project is to provide transparency and increase accountability, along with the creation of all needed conditions that would allow the knowledgeable and skilled young people equally benefit from the program under the Order No about the Study Abroad State Program of Azerbaijani youth in the years approved by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. During the project the state program and the legal framework of its implementation was analyzed, the more advanced samples from the world experience in this field was studied, and consequently a comparative analyze was made. Simultaneously ERC experts has looked through the implementation process of the program and made interviews and surveys with the representatives of the participants of the process in order to determine the strengths and the weaknesses of the program. During this 13 information questionnaires were sent to the government agencies participating in the implementation process of the program and the answers 10

12 11 were analyzed. As a result, the experts of ERC have prepared suggestions and proposals in order to improve the implementation conditions, increase the transparency and accountability, and ensure that all the skilled and capable young people benefit from the program. Another direction of the project related activities was preparing an educational work in order to increase the awareness of the possibilities created by the program among the interest groups. Other important points here were organizing media campaigns consisting of the journalist writings regarding the program in general and its implementation process, its strong and weak aspects; round tables with interest and influence groups; working to increase the popularity of the program among the young people etc. For this, ERC has prepared informal booklets and posters and spread in the universities. Also, 6 similar seminars were organized in several universities of Ganja, Lankaran and Baku and the students were given detailed information about the program. Moreover, ERC experts have also

13 ???? ANNUAL ??????? prepared books including the most frequently asked questions and their answers. Additionally, in the framework of the media campaign, 6 journalist articles regarding different aspects of the program were published (Newspapers: Yeni Musavat, Azadliq, Bizim Yol and Websites: Qafqazinfo, Mediaforum and ann.az ). 12

14 Name of the Project: The determinants of inflation and researching the conditions of diminishing the shunning boundaries of import inflation Financial support: Open Society Institute - Assistance Foundation 13 Date: 15 November December 2011 The main goal of the project is to learn the affects of external factors on the inflation in the country and research the illegal interventions in this sector, minimize the customs, monopolistic import pressures, and create suggestions to liberalize market prices. One of the goals of the project is discussing objective and subjective reasons causing inflation in Azerbaijan, calculating the differences between import and retail price of some products, and with this result evaluating the policy which regulates the consumer market without violating the monopoly norms. In framework of the project the ERC experts have made a comparison between the officially registered custom prices and retail prices (according to the ERC s statistical research on retail prices in 22 regions of Azerbaijan) of the goods for The information regarding the import prices is taken from the State Statistical Committee. Consequently, comparing of the import price, the price after customs duty and the retail prices was realized for each product. As s result the ERC experts came to conclusion, that the monetary policy in the country does not have a significant influence on Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the country. Contrary to this, the inflation expectations affect on CPI much more than the monetary policy. The exchange rates policy on the other hand decreases the inflation in the country. Moreover, the final evaluations show, that the inflation expectations and the inflation in the past periods are the main two factors that create the actual inflation and their influences are nearly the same. Another important point that the experts agreed on, is

15 the non-oil total deficit does not possess the necessary impact to create inflation. Several explanations can be given for this: First, though the import products are not taken into account while calculating the GDP, they are being considered for the calculation of CPI.???? ANNUAL ??????? So the result of the research becomes clear when we look at the actual share of the import products in consumer basket. Another explanation is the factors connected with the institutions, the market structure and monopoly in the country. 14

16 Name of the project: Estimating of alternate inflation level in Azerbaijan Financial support: Open Society Institute - Assistance Foundation Date: 01 July July It has been already 5 years that ERC is the only NGO calculating the inflation alternatively for an official governmental body of Azerbaijan Republic. The calculations are being made with the same methodology used by the State Statistical Committee according to the same goods and services. In framework of this project ERC has organized statistical observations of the prices in 10 regions of Azerbaijan in 2011, from July to December. According to the acquired data, monthly, periodical and yearly changes in CPI are calculated in Baku and in other regions and the results were shared with the public through press releases, briefings and press conferences. Moreover, ERC has calculated and published the value of the minimum consumption basket based on the collected data and on the regulations approved with order of the Cabinet of Ministers from 30 April Another calculation was made by ERC s group of experts concerning the expected inflation level in The group used international methodology and according to the results of the forecasts the expected inflation in Azerbaijan for the year 2012 is 12.4%.

17 Name of the project: On cost determination at import procedures, upgrading operation in this field and building new potential: In the case of fish and poultry feed import Financial support: USAID???? ANNUAL ??????? The main objective of the investigation biased project was determining the steps causing administrative barriers in import procedures and evaluating the influence of these barriers in sample of poultry and fish feed import. Through this project the results had to be estimated and a recommendations packet based on international experience had to be suggested in order to improve the import process. In framework of the project the legislative basis regulating the import of fish and poultry feed was analyzed, discussions were held with the people working in this field or having professional knowledge for this sector (for instance, chiefs of the business associations) and consequently, a Date: 27 April 30 December 2011 primary information basis was formed. This primary basis was improved through the government officials adjustments, who are responsible for the mentioned procedures. Simultaneously, the experience of the countries was studied, which have entered the path of independent development, together 16

18 17 with Azerbaijan; however their international trade ranking is much higher (Latvia, Macedonia). Finally, questionnaires and surveys were made in several fish farms or entrepreneurships engaged in feed import. During the project, ERC experts have calculated the expenses according to the basis data collected from the questionnaires and surveys. It appeared, that the time spent for the import procedures is in fact 59 hours, though according to the legislation it was supposed to be 82 hours. On the other hand, all the payments in legislation is 7683 AZN, while it is AZN in reality. In other words, it occurs that in many steps of the import procedures, the official expenses are higher than it is the case in fact. According to the investigations during the project, 36% of the value of the goods consists of the customs price, all the customs duties and VAT. The most complicated step from the viewpoint of time and payments during the import of fodder and its complementary goods is taking veterinary permission. In the legislation, which regulate the veterinary permissions, the following points could be examples of significant administrative barriers: requirements to the importers are very strict; there are too many documents to submit; the time period until the importers get the relevant permission is very long; and the payments are too high. Considering all the results and the world experience, the expert group of ERC has given several suggestions. The group considers that if their suggestions are accepted and carried out, then the administrative barriers preventing the import process of feed and other related goods to feed could be eliminated. The time spent to all of the procedures would decline from 115 days to 12 days, which means an efficient time-consuming of 89.6%. Also the official payments of the companies (duties, taxes, payments for services etc.) would decrease from 7683 to 6083 AZN. In other words, 20% of the expenses could be saved (The calculations were made in sample of 10 tons of fish feed; during this only the expenses regarding to the import procedures were considered).

19 ???? Name of the project: Identifying existing barriers to export procedures (Example, pomegranate juice export) Financial support: USAID Date: 27 April 30 December 2011 ANNUAL ??????? The main goal of the investigation was analyzing the export process step by step and preparing a package of proposals according to the international experience in order to simplify the export procedures from Azerbaijan to the EU countries and to utilize the potential opportunities maximally. The project also included the evaluation of the influence of these procedures. During the project, the legislative framework of the procedures related with the export to the EU is collected together and then it was analyzed by the ERC experts. Also the legislative duties and demands of the potential exporters were determined. Together with this, several questionnaires and surveys were made with the entrepreneurs engaged in the export of the pomegranate products to the EU and the government institutions regulating the procedures. After this, an information basis was established according to the results and the expenses of the companies and government institutions (time and money related expenses) were determined. The investigations showed, that there are 31 legislative acts regulating the export of the pomegranate products to EU. It includes 6 regulations of the Azerbaijan Republic, 1 code, 13 regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers, 2 orders from the president, 5 regulations from the Tariffs Board, 2 internal legislative instructions, 1 state program and 1 statue. The exporter should possess 5 certifi- 18

20 19 cates and 1 confirmation code-number. The number of documents that the entrepreneurs need to submit in order to receive the certificates is more than average. The ERC experts made relevant calculations according to the combined statistical basis. The comparative analysis of the results show, that the governmental bodies take biggest part of the time spent for the officially registration and applying of the export procedures. To be more exact, the companies spend 84 hours for the export procedures while the government bodies spend 272 hours. The general expenses to export 20 tons of pomegranate products to the EU countries are estimated to be 658 AZN (143 AZN for spending time AZN for the official payments). The ERC experts have also calculated, that the expenses related with spending time for all of the documentation processes made by the government bodies is 462 AZN, which is 76% of the general time spent. The experts group have prepared relevant suggestions in order to solve the mentioned inefficiency problems and submitted them to the corresponding bodies.

21 Name of the project: The calculation of the DRC of aquaculture in Azerbaijan Financial support: USAID Date: 27 Jun January 2012???? ANNUAL ??????? In framework of the project, the current conditions of the fishing, its breeding, mechanical processing and sales of the fish and products in Azerbaijan was analyzed. During the project, the fishing farms in Shaki-Zagatala (production of forrel) and Salyan- Neftchala (production of carp) regions were investigated and the current problems were determined. Also the financial influences of the mentioned problems were evaluated and suggestions were prepared in order to solve them. The investigation which has been made with Domestic Resource Cost (DRC) methodology shows, that the fishing sector has a comparative advantage in Azerbaijan. Especially it is advantageous to develop the forrel fishing in Shaki- Zagatala and carp fishing in Salyan-Neftchala regions from the viewpoint of cost competitiveness. The farms established in these regions can perform bet- 20

22 ter without the protectionist measures. The investigation has also revealed another issue: the further development of the fishing farms depends directly on the solving of the current problems in this sector. Problems exist in legislative framework, in marketing and also in technical field. The expert group has prepared relevant suggestions in order to eliminate all these obstacles. They consider, that if the government and the farmers accept the results and the suggestions of the project, then the fish production would increase at least times and the domestic fish products can replace the import products in the market. 21

23 ???? Name of the project: Alternative Inflation Rate and Model Development Financial support: Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) Date: 01 December April 2011 ANNUAL ??????? 22 During the project, the investigations were made in three directions. The first was alternative calculations. In this framework, the ERC experts made calculations about the alternative inflation and the value of the minimal consumption basket. The results were published monthly. The second direction was the investigations regarding the determinants of the inflation and inflation prognosis. During the investigation, the world experience regarding this field was studied the determinants of the investigation was identified con-

24 23 sidering the current conditions in Azerbaijan. Together with this the experts have made inflation prognosis for the year 2010 according to three different models based on the world experience. These models were ARIMA, conditional VAR and unconditional VAR. The experiments showed that the conditional VAR method was more appropriate among them. In other words, the ERC experts group forecasted an inflation of 10.5% for 2010 which was slightly different than the reality, so that the calculations showed 11.45% inflation for 2010 in fact. Based on this, the experts group decided to forecast the inflation with this method in the next years. The third direction of the project was public awareness campaign. In this framework, seminars, press conferences, radio-debates and talk-shows were organized. Moreover, a number of articles were published in media, quarterly and yearly reviews were prepared, press releases were organized and advocacy works (preparation of suggestions and proposals and submitting them to the government bodies, round table discussions, final / sum up conference etc.) have been made in this framework. In addition to this, the ERC experts have prepared an informational and analytical bulletin named Economic review of Azerbaijan ( Azərbaycanın iqtisadi icmalı 2010 ) both in Azerbaijani and in English. The review consists of three chapters where the qualitative and quantitative changes and tendencies that have taken place in the country s economy were analyzed. The first chapter considers the main macroeconomic indicators: economic growth, inflation, investments into the economy, as well as the situation in the foreign trade. The second chapter analyzes the implementation of the consolidated government budget, monetary policy of the Central Bank, banking sector, insurance market, stock market and exchange rate policy. The third chapter describes the tendencies and issues in the development of industry and agricultural sector.

25 ???? ANNUAL ??????? Name of the project: Increasing the administrative opportunities of the municipalities in the Central Aran region of Azerbaijan and strengthening the citizen s local self-governance and participation in development Financial support: German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and Oxfam (Great Britain) Date: 15 September August 2011 In framework of the project which was prepared together with the partner NGOs acting in municipal field, 16 municipalities from Barda, Tartar and Agcabedi were provided with computers and electron-budget programs and the municipality staff was trained to work at those programs. Moreover, informal booklets and posters named Municipal taxes at the Transparent Budget mirror were published and spread, which included the instructions for using the Transparent budget program and the municipal taxes and their calculation methods. In addition to this, Citizen Report Card surveys were organized in order to determine the problems concerning the municipal area and the results of the survey together with the municipal budget for 2011 were discussed with the citizens. During the discussions, several changes in the municipal budgets were made based on the proposals of the cit- 24

26 25 izens. Also during the project certificates named The Card of the Local Tax Payer, which contain information about the tax payers of the municipalities, were prepared and spread to the tax payers. In addition to this, ERC has organized a round table for the topic Application the e- governance methodology in municipalities: current situation and view of the future, in order to publicize the municipal problems and strengthen the advocacy works. In this event, the representatives of mass media, the government bodies, the local offices of several international organizations, independent experts and heads of the NGOs have participated. Another direction in the framework of the project was organizing discussions dedicated to the municipal problems in one of the central TV channels. Therefore, ERC has taken this topic to the TV program Iqtisadi forum ( Economic forum ) in ANS TV and the main focus of the discussions was the access opportunities of the Azerbaijani municipalities to the electron information technologies, creating web-sites for the municipalities and the general situation and conditions of the transition to the electron municipality governance in the country.

27 Name of the project: The development of the insurance and guaranteed security systems legal framework Financial support: AMFA and Oxfam Great Britain Date: August 2011 February 2012???? ANNUAL ??????? The main objective of the project is increasing the investments flowing to the agricultural field and giving methodical and technical support for enhancing the financial opportunities of the credit institutions connected with the farmers. In framework of the project the following events and measures are planned: Preparing a relevant conceptual document for establishing legislative framework of the guarantee funds for credits; organizing discussions with the relevant government bodies and institutions in Turkey in order to get familiar with the creation and implementation process of Guarantee Funds; preparing the Regulation for the Guarantee Funds of Credits; preparing a project for the president s order in order to establish the 26

28 Guarantee Funds of Credits; creating relevant rules for the activities of the Guarantee Funds of Credits; preparing proposals and suggestions for financing the Guarantee Funds from the government budget; and preparing changes and corrections to the current legislation, regulating the activities of the Guarantee Funds in the country. The prepared documents in the framework of the project are going to be submitted to the experts for discussions. In order to do this, a round table is going to be organized with the participation of the Azerbaijani and foreign experts, social and international organizations, representatives of the government bodies and mass media. The legislative documents based on all of the collected proposals and suggestions will be sent to the relevant government bodies, members of the Parliament and public associations. 27

29 ???? Name of the project: The Revenue Management Improvement Possibilities: Case Study of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan Financial support: Revenue Watch Institute Date: September 2011 September 2013 ANNUAL ??????? The main goal of the project is assessing the revenue management process in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, comparing the assessments with the advanced world experience and preparing proposals for improving the revenue management systems in both countries. The project is assumed to consist of 2 main phases: In the first phase, collection and preliminary analysis of the data within the International Revenue Management Index will be conducted and the current conditions will be estimated. In the second phase, the evidencebased policy recommendations will be prepared in order to improve the situation in this field. Advocacy works will be done in order to socialize the prepared recommendations. The advocacy works will include focus-group and round table discussions, press campaign, TV talk shows, radio-debates, special publications etc. In framework of the project the current management systems of the revenues from the output of natural resources in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan will be compared with the most successful samples from the world experience, especially the activities of the funds, where the revenues are collected together, their stabilizing functions, investment policies financed from these funds and the impact of the revenues on the regional cooperation will be assessed. Together with this, a revenue management model based on the advanced world experience will be prepared for both of the countries. Until the end of 2011 the investigation group of the project has collected the legislative and 28

30 normative acts regulating the revenue management field in Azerbaijan and made the examinations on them. Main attention here was paid to the documents related with the management of the resources of State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAR). Also the annual reports of the Fund was analyzed and based on these reports the ERC experts have set the dynamic ranges of the revenues, expenses and actives of the Fund and identified the settled tendencies. Moreover, the budget of the Fund and the documents related to its corrections were systemized and the revenues and expenses of the budget were summarized. The structural and trend analyze of the budget was conducted. In addition to this, the reports of the international organizations regarding to the oil revenues management were collected and they were studied in framework of the project. Project activities continue at the moment. 29

31 Public Relation The Economic Research Center (ERC) has completed the 2011 as a civil society institution with superior extent of its public relations, as it was the case in the past years. Thus, ERC has organized 7 conferences, 4 Round Tables, 14 trainings or seminars, 5 TV and 2 radio discussions regarding with different issues. On average more than 30 foreign or Azerbaijani specialists, delegates of international organizations or embassies and up to 20 media representatives have participated in all the events with public concern. Moreover, the Public Relations department of ERC has prepared 21 statements connected with different activities of the institution and these were placed in a number of newspapers, websites and different TV or Radio broadcasts. Last year ERC has also extended its cooperation with journalists in the framework of its various projects. Thus, the institution has collaborated with 8 journalists in preparation of research articles in different fields. In 2011 ERC has cooperated with more???? ANNUAL ??????? Round Table: 4 Seminars and trainings: 14 Conferences: 7 Press Releases: 21 TV discussions: 5 Radio discussions: 2 than 100 NGOs in the framework of the projects Promoting the application of compulsory insurance in NGOs in order to strengthen the social status of employees financed by Council of State Support to NGOs and Support to civil society institutions in developing effective external relations at the regional and international level financed by Open Society Institute - Assistance Foundation. During these projects a two-monthly consultancy service was created to assist the NGOs to develop effective foreign relations; several seminars were organized about the 30

32 31 compulsory insurance systems in the circumstances, where NGO leaders, accountants or managers lose their abilities cause of the industrial accidents or occupational diseases etc. In 2012 ERC has intentions of further expansion of its relations with the civil society institutions. From this stance, ERC has already begun to implement a project which deals with the assistance to the civil society institutions in the economic issues or problems regarding with registration etc. Another project named Using legal means and with a wide range of advocacy support to the strengthening of civil society is now being financed by the Society Institute - Assistance Foundation and Marshall Foundation. ERC has also started a project with the support of the European Commission at the end of the last year named Due to the strengthening the role of policy-making decisions of analytical centers to increase efficiency in governing. Within the framework of these projects the center intends to make contributions to the development of the brain centers and local NGOs.

33 Foreign relations???? ANNUAL ??????? Economic Research Center (ERC) has expanded its foreign relations significantly and great successes were achieved in this field in Thus, ERC is the only NGO in Azerbaijan that has become a member of the Association of Local Democracy Agencies. ALDA was found in 1999 by the Council of Europe and the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities and has more than 150 members in 30 European countries. Mainly, the members of ALDA are municipalities, municipal associations and the NGOs engaged in this field. Moreover, last year the Chairman of Management Board of ERC Mr. Gubad Ibadoglu, was elected to be the national coordinator of the Civil Society Forum in framework of the Eastern Partnership Program of the European Union. Additionally, he became a member of the International Board of Directors of the Civil Society Forum. During the year 2011 Mr. Gubad Ibadoglu has participated in the following events: - Discussions on the topic Coalitionbuilding and strategic cooperation in the Academy of Theodor Heuss in Gummersbach, Germany, organized by Friedrich Naumann Foundation; - The second international conference on the theme Elimination of inter-regional diversity in Arandelovac, Serbia, organized by the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development of Serbia and German Society for International Cooperation; - NGO Forum in Geneva organized by the United Nations and the alternative discussion of the reports prepared by the Azerbaijan Civil Society; - The activities of the International Liberal Summer Academy organized by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for its listeners from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia in Bazaleti, Georgia. - The third annual meeting of the Civil Society Forum, in framework of the Eastern Partnership Program of the European Union in Poznan, Poland. - Conferences in Norway etc. The Executive Director of ERC Mr. Galib Toghrul has visited the US in framework of the Open World Program with the organi- 32

34 zational support of the American Councils for International Education and financial support of the US Library of Congress. He has also represented the ERC in the seminar on topic Increasing the regional competitiveness of the analytical centers in Southern Caucasus and Central Asia in Almaty, Kazakhstan, organized by the Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research (KIMEP) and the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. During the year ERC has continued its cooperation with the international NGOs like 25 33

35 Recommendations???? ANNUAL ??????? 1. Proposals regarding to the diminishing of the shunning boundaries of import inflation 2. Proposals related with decreasing of the administrative barriers, cutting costs and adjustment of the current legislation to the standards of the World Trade Organization in import process 3. Proposals concerning with diminishing the costs, improving the legislation and elimination of parallelism in permission and control in the export process of food to the European Union countries 4. Proposals related to the improvement of pool and lake fishing in Azerbaijan. These are the results of the calculations of internal resource costs of this field. 5. Proposals connected with the increase of the administrative opportunities of the municipalities and strengthening the participation of the citizens in self-governance and development 6. Proposals regarding to the preparation of the legislative framework and forming the executive mechanism of the Agricultural Guarantee Funds for Credits 7. Proposals related with the Civil Society Institutions in Azerbaijan and their building of efficient relations in regional and international level 8. Proposals regarding to the State Program for study of Azerbaijani youth abroad for , which occurred after the monitoring of the program and learning the related foreign experience 34

36 35

37 ???? ANNUAL ??????? 36

38 Publications 37 During the year of 2011 the Economic Research Center has prepared up to 10 publications within the framework of various projects. It includes books, informational brochures, booklets and posters that were the results of studies on different topics. Books: - Collective negotiations and agreements. Guide for members of labor collectives and trade organizations - The book approaches the collective agreement that determines the regulations between the participants of labor relations as a social cooperation act and a special form of labor contract. It also goes over the functions of the collective agreements in economic entities and their structural sections. The duties between the sides while signing contracts, especially when it is the case with trade unions, also the principles and rules for negotiations are enumerated. The monitoring procedures for the preparation, signing and implementing the collective agreements are presented. In the guide, useful recommendations are given for the purpose of more efficient collective negotiations, strengthening the positions of the members of labor collectives and trade unions while the organization of social dialogue. - Economic review of Azerbaijan 2010 ( Azərbaycanın iqtisadi icmalı 2010 ) (in Azerbaijani and English) Together with being informal, the review has also analytical bias. In this review, which consists of three parts, the development trends and the quantitative and qualitative changes of the country in 2010 are analyzed. In the first part, the analysis of the macroeconomic indicators (GDP, investments, foreign trade, inflation etc.) is given. The second part goes over the implementation conditions of the consolidated budget, the monetary policy of the Central Bank, also the analysis of the banking sector, securities and insurance markets and exchange rate policies of the country. The third part gives detailed information about the agricultural and industrial development trends and issues related with these fields.

39 - Mirror statistics and Defining Foreign Trade Indicators in the Republic of Azerbaijan - The book presents the results of the study of the ERC from 2010, which is done with Mirror statistics method and looks at the extent of the trade with 16 countries, which have a share of between 63 and 80 percents in the general foreign trade of Azerbaijan. In the framework of the study the statistics of the foreign trade of Azerbaijan are investigated in the same way like the other countries, according to the positions of the goods and according to the countries. Together with this, as the other countries that Azerbaijan cooperates, prepare the similar statistics, the statistical comparing method is used for the same indicators (for example, imports). Comparing statistics in the international trade like this is called Mirror statistics. Evaluating especially the import operations through the Mirror methodology is widely used in the post-soviet countries. - Municipal taxes at the Transparent budget background The book gives detailed information using up to 50 examples about the following points: Guidelines for the computer program designed by ERC and???? ANNUAL ??????? called Transparent budget, which is applied in the partner municipalities; accounting of the local tax-payers of the partner municipalities; how the mining tax and the income tax of the municipalities and the land tax and property tax of the natural persons are described and calculated in legislation; payment notification form, its preparation and sending; penalties for the delayed taxes; and the calculation of the penalties. - Studying abroad in framework of the state program. Answers for the frequently asked questions The book is prepared according to the legal and regulatory basis related with the implementation of the State Program for study of Azerbaijani youth abroad for In this publication the answers for the main questions are given, that might be interesting for the young people, who intend to study abroad in the framework of the state program. - Compulsory insurance: insure whom from what? In this educating brochure, the main points of the legislative base regarding the compulsory insurance of the industrial accidents and occupational diseases of employees are given. The users can 38

40 get detailed information about the following issues: who should have compulsory insurance; who pays for the compulsory insurance; which companies can use the compulsory insurance for their workers; how is the amount for the insurance calculated; compulsory insurance contract; the types of the insurance payments; paying rules etc. In addition, last year the ERC has published educating booklets about the Transparent budget program and the State Program for study of Azerbaijani youth abroad for ; these booklets are spread between the interest groups. 39

41 Publications???? ANNUAL ??????? 40

42 Publications 41

43 Financial Report Total income 2011 ANNUAL???? 2010??????? 42 Non-commercial income

44 Management Board Dr. Gubad Ibadoglu, Chairman Members of the Management Board 43 Pr. Fuad Rasulov Dunya Jamalova, journalist Eldar Gojayev, lawyer Aytakin Asgarova Galib Togrul Vahid Maharramov