Azerbaijan may cooperate with IFC to elaborate new law on energy

Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov met with a delegation led by IFC Regional Manager for the South Caucasus Jan van Bilsen.

Report informs citing the ministry that Jan van Bilsen spoke about issues such as the attraction of investments to the private sector, increasing the role of this sector in the economy. According to him, the IFC is interested in cooperation with Azerbaijan on the development of the private sector and reforms.

Giving information about reforms in the energy sector and development of the new law to this end, Minister Shahbazov said that sub-normative legal documents should be prepared with the support of an advisor for application of these laws. According to him, Azerbaijan can cooperate with the IFC to work out a new bill on energy.

The minister said that the extension of the use of renewable energy sources is among the priorities of the government, and that, following the pilot projects, they plan to hold auctions. He added that the government is cooperating with the EBRD in this regard.

They also discussed the shift to a liberal market model in electric power, the creation of local production capacities through raising private investments, and perspective cooperation opportunities on offshore wind energy.