Azerbaijan withdrew from the Extractive Industries Transparency Monitor (EITI), a body that aims to promote open, responsible management of the countries’ oil, gas and mining sectors on Friday, March 10.
Progress in line with EITI standards is significant for securing loans from international banks for pipeline projects.
EITI is an international organization, which sets transparency standards in the natural resource industry, and stakeholders include governments, companies, institutional investors, international financial institutions and civil society.
Azerbaijan was an EITI candidate country, and despite progress failed to achieve full member status in the EITI's last meeting. In October 2016, the EITI board had concluded that Azerbaijan had made meaningful progress in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard, but that it had not made satisfactory progress on civil society engagement. Accordingly, it set some corrective actions. The board agreed that while progress had been made on these actions, they had not yet been fully completed.
"It is with regret that we have received the decision from the Government of Azerbaijan announcing that they are withdrawing from the EITI," the statement said.
"We all hope that the government of Azerbaijan will return to the EITI and continue the good work done in achieving transparency," the EITI Chair, Fredrik Reinfeldt, former prime minister of Sweden was quoted in the statement.
"The Board commended the government for its plans to mainstream transparency in government systems. Azerbaijan’s efforts on project-level reporting were also highlighted as the Board decided the next steps for project level reporting in the EITI," according to the statement.
No reason was given in Azerbaijan's statement of withdrawal.
TANAP is part of a $46 billion Southern Gas Corridor natural gas pipeline project. The project attracted over $2 billion from international instutitions an two more international banks are expected to support the project.
(Anadolu Agency)
