Samir Sharifov explains reasons for rising prices in Azerbaijan

"No one in the world can guarantee whether or not prices will change," Finance Minister Samir Sharifov told reporters, commenting on the rise in prices for electricity, natural gas, and for some products in Azerbaijan, Report informs.

"As you know, some products are imported to Azerbaijan. Can the Azerbaijani government influence their prices in any way? No! Azerbaijan imports products related to the public utilities. This inevitably impacts the formation of a cost. If the cost increases, a company selling product also reflects it in a price of a product it sells," Sharifov added.

The minister also explained the reasons behind the rise in prices in Azerbaijan against the backdrop of rising oil prices on world markets:

"Initially, oil prices were kept low in budget forecasts. Therefore, when oil became cheaper, we did not reduce tariffs. At present, our tariffs are much lower than world prices. Look at the price of natural gas in the world and in our country," he said.