Assets of State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan increase by over 11 %

Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 22 /Trend corr. E.Ismayilov/ Revenues of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) amounted to 10 076.4 million manat in January-September 2012 and expenses - 7 531 million manat, the fund report stated on Monday. Income from implementation of oil contracts were at 9 636 million manat, including the sale of profitable oil and gas - 9 625.7 million manat, from transit payments - 5.7million manat. During the reporting period, income from assets transferred by foreign investors amounted to 0.2 million manat. Some 440.4 million manat was obtained from the management of the Petroleum Fund in January-September. Bonus payments amounted to 1.6 million manat, and per acre payments - 2.8 million manat. Income of the fund from exchange loss within the three quarters totaled 79.3 million manat. The structure of the Oil Fund expenditures includes 251.1 million manat which has been allocated for activities to improve the welfare of refugees and internally displaced persons, 115.1 million manat - to finance the project of reconstruction of the Samur-Absheron irrigation system. Transfers to the state budget amounted to 7 038.4 million manat. Some 8.3 million manat was spent for the training of Azerbaijani students abroad as part of the state programme for 2007-2015. In addition 97 million manat were directed to finance the construction of a new railway Baku-Tbilisi-Kars. The costs on managing the fund amounted to 21.1 million manat. SOFAZ assets increased by 11.4 per cent as of September 1, 2012 compared to the beginning of the year ($29.8 billion), amounting to 33 192 4 million. The fund began buying gold since the first quarter of 2012 and the amount of acquired gold was 10 891 tons (350 146 ounces).as of October 1. State Oil Fund was established in 1999 and at that time its assets amounted to $271 million. Based on SOFAZ's regulations, the funds may be used for the construction and reconstruction of strategically important infrastructure facilities, as well as solving important national problems. The main purpose of the fund is the accumulation of funds and placement of its assets abroad to minimise the negative impact on the economy, preventing a 'Dutch syndrome' to ensure savings for future generations and maintain the current socio-economic standard in the country. Official exchange rate on October 22 is 0.785 AZN/USD. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az