President: At that time, there was no concept of economy at all

"As for the economic situation, I can say that at that time, the concept of economy did not exist at all," Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said at the Youth Forum dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Youth Day on February 2, Report informs.

"Because after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the principles of a market economy were not fully established in Azerbaijan, and private entrepreneurship was at a very low level. Government agencies had not yet mastered the new method of governance. The economic downturn was ubiquitous, and our economic future was in question. Oil and gas contracts had just been signed. In 1994, the 'Contract of the Century' was signed in this hall, here, and gave us all great hopes. But at that time, of course, it was impossible to predict the implementation of this project. There were hopes, but no confidence. The signing of a contract for the Shah Deniz gas field in 1996 gave additional hope, but when Youth Day was established - 25 years ago - of course, no one could have predicted how much these projects would benefit our country," the head of state stressed.