Minister of Energy delivered a speech at the video conference on "Contract of the Century" and Modern Realities of Azerbaijan"

The videoconference was held at the secretariat of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party dedicated to “The Contract of the Century" and the Modern Realities of Azerbaijan”.
Speaking at the event, Deputy Prime Minister  of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Executive Secretary and Deputy Chairman of New Azerbaijan Party Ali Ahmadov stressed the historical significance of the "Contract of the Century". Ali Ahmadov said that The "Contract of the Century", signed on September 20, 1994, has a special place among the most grandiose events in the Azerbaijani modern history: "While listing the most important events in our modern history, it would be appropriate to stress the return of national leader Heydar Aliyev in 1993 and the signing of this oil agreement, which should be seen as a direct result of this return”. There were attempts to sign an oil agreement before the great leader Heydar Aliyev returned to power, but they did not yield results as there was no socio-political stability in our country, Azerbaijan was at war, there were also external threats and pressure in connection with development of rich hydrocarbon resources of our country,” Ahmadov said. Deputy Chairman of New Azerbaijan Party noted that during difficult period for Azerbaijan, national leader Heydar Aliyev managed to sign this contract. Despite the state of war, Azerbaijan has become the world's energy center. Influential countries, giant companies were attracted to our country. The signing of this agreement laid the foundation for the development of Azerbaijan's economy. Azerbaijan was supplying oil to the world market, bulk currency entered the country, the development process began.  Thus, the Contract of the Century signed in 20 September 1994 is of great importance not only for the economy and energy of Azerbaijan, but also from the point of view of the implementation of the global energy policy.
The deputy prime minister noted that the signing of the Contract of Century was unequivocally possible thanks to the great genius and will of Heydar Aliyev: "Azerbaijan had just gained its state independence. Political processes within and around our country were not completed for some reasons. The ambitious policy pursued by national leader Heydar Aliyev included the development and implementation of Azerbaijan's oil strategy.   As I already mentioned, during that period the situation in Azerbaijan was not completely stable, the country was in a state of war, and there were other risk factors. Despite all this, Heydar Aliyev was able to create, develop and implement this project, which is important for Azerbaijan and the world energy market".
The deputy chairman of New Azerbaijan Party said that the oil strategy successfully continues under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, and the "Contract of the Century" has been serving the economy and welfare of people of Azerbaijan for 26 years: "The greatest significance of this project is in the inflow of big funds to Azerbaijan, the development of the economy, an increase in the well-being of people, and the renewal of infrastructure in the country through these resources”. According to him, the "Contract of the Century" is also of great geopolitical importance. Thus, the successful implementation of this project is of great importance in strengthening political positions and prestige of Azerbaijan both in the region and in the world community.
Oil revenues serve to improve the welfare of our people, the deputy prime minister said. Stressing the importance of the steps taken by President Ilham Aliyev to strengthen social protection of the population, the deputy prime minister informed the participants that the oil strategy will continue to serve the people of Azerbaijan for many years to come.  
Presenting a detailed report in the video conference, the Minister of Energy Parviz Shahbazov noted that a new era began in both Azerbaijan and the region as a whole with the Contract of Century signed 26 years before. In its essence, this was one of the most important events in the history of Azerbaijan's independence According to the minister, today Azerbaijan’s place in the world differs from that which was 26 years ago: “Today, Azerbaijan from a country with the weak, unstable, socio-economic situation, which during that period was taking the first uncertain steps on the path to independence, has turned into the leader of the region, creator of global energy and communication projects, a steadily developing country with high prestige on international arena. The achievements that have raised our country to this level are based on the “Contract of the Century”. If gaining independence in 1991 was the official confirmation that Azerbaijan is entitled to be master of its own destiny, then the “Contract of the Century” became the practical evidence. Thus, our people demonstrated that they become the owner of their own wealth after several decades, and showed their determination and ability to benefit from this wealth in the most efficient way for the happy future. The signing of the “Contract of the Century” thanks to determination, high authority and foresight of national leader Heydar Aliyev ensured Azerbaijan the long-term development of hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian Sea on the basis of international cooperation, the use of advanced experience, new technologies and investments of giant oil and gas companies”.
The minister added that the energy projects have made Azerbaijan an integral part of the global energy security system, a reliable partner. Azerbaijan realized the idea of diversifying the energy routes in the region with the help of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan main export gas pipeline, which is the contribution of the “Contract of the Century”. Then, the signing of an agreement on the Shah Deniz gas field, as well as the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum export gas pipeline with further implementation of the Southern Gas Corridor project continued this trend.  Foresight in forecasting of such goals in Azerbaijan as diversification of energy routes and energy security, today found confirmation in the realities of our modern world.
The minister said that all these continuing achievements of the “Contract of the Century” are the results of the purposeful energy policy of President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the selfless labor of the Azerbaijani oil workers within the implementation of this policy and our effective cooperation and reliable partnership with international oil companies. Thus, with the extension of the agreement on the development of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields until 2050 three years ago, thanks to the results of our joint work with foreign partners over the past 26 years and the political will of President Aliyev, this contract, in fact, received the status “A contract of two centuries”.
Underlining the ongoing converse, complex and risky processes at the global scale, Parviz Shahbazov stressed that the coronavirus pandemic set new challenges for humanity, has caused great changes in the existing geopolitical order and the energy situation of the world: “Azerbaijan’s entry to a new level in its development will also depend on bringing its energy policy in line with the modern requirements, maintaining the relevance of its position as an energy center in terms of new geopolitical realities, challenges in the economy, energy and environmental security. In this regard, the policy linking the national security of our country with the formulas of global security through the “Contract of the Century” and specific projects emanating from it is expected to play an important role. 516 mln. tonnes of oil has been produced in Azeri-Chirag-Gunasli (ACG) field from commissioning until September of this year, Azerbaijan exported 305 mln. tonnes of oil from this fields to the world market, more than 48 bln. cubic meter associated gas has been given to SOCAR, and in total, an income of USD 145.8 bln. has been obtained thanks to the project. The development of deposits until 2050, the launch of new projects will allow us to consolidate this success for 30 more years. Given that the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields are the country’s main source of income and that the oil and gas sector will continue to play an important role in Azerbaijan’s economy in the coming years, the sustainability in upstream operations is of strategic importance. The presence of such a contract in terms of declining demand for oil, low prices, when many international energy companies in the period of energy transformation are abandoning oil and gas projects, adopting the strategies in which the preference is given to the renewable energy sources, is a fairly reliable guarantor.
The chairman of the Committee of Economic Policy, Industry and Entrepreneurship Tahir Mirkishili, chairman of Labour and Social Policy Committee Musa Guliyev and chairman of Human Rights Committee of the Milli Majlis Zahid Oruj also took part in the video conference. It was noted in the speeches that today it is possible to list a number of factors that determine the economic independence of independent Azerbaijan and its transformation into a country with high financial security, among which it is necessary to emphasize the importance of successful energy policy of our country.
It was noted that the signing of the Contract of Century 26 years ago played an exceptional role in the development of Azerbaijan's strong economic potential and made a great contribution to the energy security of the region and Europe. The oil strategy, which was founded by great leader Heydar Aliyev and successfully continued today under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, has increased to the level of leader countries. Azerbaijan has become a strong nation on a global scale by significantly increasing its economic opportunities and national income in the short history of independence.
It was also noted that Azerbaijan is taking reliable steps in the direction of turning "black gold" into human capital. A wide scope of social and economic infrastructure construction has started in our republic. At the same time, based on its strong economic potential and broad financial capabilities, Azerbaijan is pursuing a policy aimed at ensuring a high standard of living for its citizens.