SOFAZ marks its 19th anniversary

Baku, December 28, AZERTAC Established 19 years ago on December 29, 1999 as a successful result of the national oil strategy laid by the national leader Heydar Aliyev, the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) aims at efficient management of the accumulated oil and gas revenues, and assignment of these assets to the development of advanced areas and implementation of projects of socio-economic and strategic importance. During the 19 years of its establishment, SOFAZ has taken significant measures to successfully achieve the defined goals and objectives. While the total assets of SOFAZ amounted to USD 270 mln at the time of its establishment, in 2018 it has already exceeded USD 38 bln. Today, based on the efficient asset management principles, SOFAZ finances major national projects of social-economic importance. According to the strategic decision of national leader Heydar Aliyev, measures on improvement of social conditions of refugees and internally displaced persons are taken at the expense of SOFAZ’s assets. Construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan main export pipeline named after Heydar Aliyev, Oghuz-Gabala-Baku water pipeline, Star Oil Refinery Complex, as well as Baku-Tbilisi-Kars new railway regarded as an economically efficient, fast, safe and reliable project initiated by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has also been financed by SOFAZ. Moreover, SOFAZ finances the reconstruction of the Samur-Absheron irrigation system. One of the key projects financed by SOFAZ, in accordance with the Order of President Ilham Aliyev, is the “State Program on education of Azerbaijani youth abroad in the years of 2007-2015”. The project aims at transforming “black gold into human capital”. From the day of its establishment, transparency has been one of the crucial principles SOFAZ adheres to and as a result of this, it is the first government agency among organizations of Eastern Europe and CIS countries to be awarded with “United Nations Public Service Award” in May 2007. Additionally, in October 2018 SOFAZ was included in the ‘Public Investor 100’ Ranking prepared by the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute (SWFI) and was ranked 10th based on analyses of various dimensions on management of the state-owned assets. Thanks to all these measures, today SOFAZ is widely acknowledged not only in Azerbaijan but also in the international arena for its institutional capacity building, efficient asset management, transparent operations and openness to information.