| With oil prices now barely above $31 per barrel, Azerbaijan’s energy-export economy is taking on lots of water. And what is worse, Baku’s lifeboat, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, appears to be in danger of foundering. The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), a critical source of funding for Azerbaijan’s state budget, needs help, too, some observers say. The question is what, or who can supply it.
Established in 1999, at the dawn of Azerbaijan’s oil boom, the extra-budgetary fund was designed to safeguard and invest for the public good the windfall profits earned from Azerbaijan’s oil and gas exports...............................................Full Article: Source |