USAID representative comments on possibility of curtailing its activity in Azerbaijan

Baku. 19 May. REPORT.AZ/ Acting Assistant Administrator of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Margot Ellis has commented on the possibility of curtailing the activities of the organization in Azerbaijan.

Report informs, Margot Ellis stated that "rumors about the closure of USAID in Azerbaijan are probably connected with the first version of the US budget draft, published in March, which envisages a sharp reduction in financial assistance to foreign countries."

"However, this is just the first version of the budget that will be discussed in the next few months in Congress as well. We do not yet know how the budget will be. So we continue our work in Azerbaijan, including our efforts to diversify the country's economy", she said.

Margot Ellis said that over 25 years of cooperation, the US allocated $ 1.3 billion to various projects in Azerbaijan, including $400 million through the USAID.

"The goal of our programs is a stable, democratic and prosperous Azerbaijan," she added. She noted that within the framework of the two-day visit she had held meetings with Azerbaijani officials, representatives of civil society, and will visit Ganja on May 19.