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Sanctions in Energy: Russia and Iran

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Sanctions in Energy: Russia and Iran A Word From Executive Director of AmCham Dear AmCham members and friends, It is my pleasure to present you 24th edition of AmCham Azerbaijan business magazine – IMPACT. In the last quarter of 2016, as usual AmCham Azerbaijan Issue 24 promoted business interests of the members in full capacity and in diverse manners. For the first time, AmCham Azerbaijan organized Azerbaijan – USA Business Forum, which brought Credits together higher level officials from both countries, as well as private sector representatives. Herein, our members had an AmCham Executive Director: opportunity to share their vision on perspectives of doing business in two countries and to develop further contacts. We are sure that such events create positive spillover effect Natavan Mammadova for contributing to government’s strategy aimed to further economic diversification and promotion of export. Editor: Despite of a year-end period and busy schedule of member companies, IMPACT team Aykhan Nasibli managed to get higher level interviews and articles which we believe are added value for our members and all stakeholders. They touch upon to changing dynamics in banking Articles contributed by: and financial sector, taxation and its impact on businesses, sanctions to Iran and Russia Narmin Aslanova, Gunel Sadiyeva by the EU and the USA, importance of sustainability reporting to financial performance of companies and sustainable construction initiatives. Sona Tagiyeva Murad Nasibov Let me also mention, that in this edition of IMPACT, recent publications of AmCham Ashraf Hajiyev Azerbaijan have been shortly described as well: White Paper 2016 – for improving Nargiz Karimova, Orkhan Rajabov business climate, and Index of Prices – for measuring the change in average level of prices paid for consumer goods and services. & Gunel Farajova Overall, I appreciate your interest and look forward for continuous cooperation. Advertisers: Kapital Bank Kind regards, Natavan Mammadova LafargeHolcim Yapi Kredi Bank Azerbaijan Editor’s Comment Azerfon Dear friend, ITECA Caspian Welcome to the 24th edition of IMPACT Azerbaijan magazine, devoted to 25 years of relationship between Azerbaijan and the Printing: USA, as well as 20th anniversary of AmCham Azerbaijan. Bestpack The year-end period has been very hectic and highly important for the business community of Azerbaijan. Organization of Publisher: Azerbaijan-USA Business Forum for the first time by AmCham American Chamber of Commerce Azerbaijan put additional fuel to fire for deepening and widening in Azerbaijan the relationship between the mentioned countries. Existence of higher level governmental support, including involvement of Ambassadors from both sides, as well as business representatives revealed strong Tel: (+994 12) 497 13 33 political and economic interest for organization of this event. Fax: (+994 12) 497 10 91 www.amchamaz.org Within this edition of IMPACT, you will be able to read special interviews covering the bilateral relationship. As a follow up, interesting articles cover transfer pricing, the US & the EU embargos to Iran and Russia, traveling, sustainability business reporting and Advertising opportunities: sustainable construction, contribution of civil society for this relations and many other Please contact the Editor at topics. [email protected] Herein, it is my pleasure to appreciate one more time for authors and interviewed officials, as well as for companies who see deep value to advertise their business in The articles in IMPACT Azerbaijan IMPACT, including Kapital Bank, Azerfon, Yapi Kredi Bank Azerbaijan and LafargeHolcim express the opinions of the authors Foundation. and do not necessarily reflect the Enjoy reading and contributing! position of the American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan Best regards, Aykhan Nasibli “The LafargeHolcim Awards has not only brought awareness, but has also raised the standard for how we deal with sustainability.” Alejandro Aravena, Partner Architect at Elemental, Chile. LafargeHolcim Foundation Board member since 2013. Pritzker Prize laureate 2016. 5 th International LafargeHolcim Awards Renowned technical universities host for sustainable construction projects. of the world. The juries evaluate entries Prize money totals USD 2 million. against the “target issues” for sustain - able construction. The competition has categories for projects at an advanced stage of design, and also for vision - ary ideas of young professionals and students. The LafargeHolcim Awards is an initia - tive of the LafargeHolcim Foundation for Sustainable Construction and is supported by LafargeHolcim. The Group has a well-balanced presence in 90 countries and is represented in Azerbaijan by Holcim Azerbaijan OJSC. www.lafargeholcim-awards.org contents IN FOCUS 4 20 Azerbaijan-USA Business Forum Traveling and Gender Ashraf Hajiyev Research Director and Partner, SIAR Research and Consulting Group 6 Special Interview with U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, 22 HE Robert F. Cekuta Sanctions in Energy: Russia And Iran 8 Special Interview with Deputy Sona Taghiyeva Assistant Secretary of Commerce Senior Associate, Dentons’ Baku office for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Mr. Michael Lally 26 10 Importance of Sustainability Special Interview with Reporting for the Businesses Rector of ADA University, and its Positive Impact on their Ambassador Hafiz Pashayev Financial Performance Nargiz Karimova, Orkhan Rajabov, Gunel Farajova, Ernst & Young Azerbaijan 12 US-Azerbaijani Relations: ReGional DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATION Security, Business and the Overlooked Pillar of Civil Society 30 An Interview with Edward Schwarz, General Manager of Murad Nasibov, Program Director, LafargeHolcim Foundation Eurasia Partnership Foundation MEMBER CONTRIBUTION AMCHAM AZERBAIJAN 32 14 About Us Special Interview with Mr. Farid Mammadov, First Deputy CEO of Kapital Bank 33 Business Events 17 Introduction to Transfer Pricing 40 AmCham Legal Update Narmin Aslanova, Gunel Sadiyeva Deloitte Azerbaijan 3 in focus Azerbaijan-USA Business Forum AmCham Azerbaijan, in cooperation with the ADA University Azerbaijan to the U.S. and the Embassy of the United States and with kind support of the U.S. Embassy in Azerbaijan and to the Republic of Azerbaijan. Embassy of Azerbaijan to U.S., as well as with the financial The ultimate goal of the forum was to introduce Azerbaijan, its support of PASHA Bank, hosted the 1st AmCham organized economy, opportunities and chances to American companies Azerbaijan-USA Business Forum. in order to improve business relations between the two Mrs. Natavan Mammadova, Executive Director of AmCham countries. Azerbaijan, welcomed the guests and emphasized the During the general session Mr. Galib Mammad, Senior Vice importance of the forum for the further development of bilateral Rector of ADA University, Mr. Rufat Mammadov, President of economic relations, establishment of new partnerships AZPROMO, Mr. James Hogan, Managing Partner of Dentons and exploring untried opportunities. Opening remarks were and Mr. Rustam Shahbazov, Deputy chairman of State also delivered by leadership of ADA University, Ministry of Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Property Issues Economy, The State Customs Committee, the Embassy of delivered respective presentations about doing business in 4 Issue 24 in focus Azerbaijan, investment opportunities and privatization. Significant moment of the Forum was signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding between American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan and the State Customs Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan on cooperation and promotion of use of the green corridor and other gating systems for the transportation of goods and vehicles across the customs border for AmCham members. The event featured session on “Banking and Finance”, “Energy and Industry”, “Cyber Security and E-Commerce”, “Agriculture and Trade” and “Transport”. The Conference was followed by B2B meetings. Noteworthy to mention that representatives of well-known American companies such as, Honeywell, International Development of Reinke, AGCO Corporation, John Deere, Commercial Airplanes Boeing and TERA International Group Inc. travelled to Azerbaijan to participate at the event. 5 in focus Special Interview with U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, HE Robert F. Cekuta world is not done changing quite yet – the next 25 years will undoubtedly hold many changes for Azerbaijan as well. How would you characterize Azerbaijan’s present economic situation? It is a crisis? Has Azerbaijan successfully entered the post-oil period? Azerbaijan is dealing with a set of issues due to the lower oil prices that other countries – and parts of the United States – face and have faced in the past when prices fell. We saw this in Texas and other parts of the U.S. oil patch when crude oil prices dropped in the 1980s, for example. The key thing is what a country does to diversify its economy so that there are other sources of income and jobs besides just oil or gas. In Houston, Baku’s sister city and a key center for the oil and gas industry in the United States, for example, the city worked to attract other industries and to foster entrepreneurship. That same process is underway today in Azerbaijan with the economic reforms the government and others are fostering. I’ll leave it to the government to talk about its plans, but I would note the efforts at economic diversification – boosting Azerbaijan’s agricultural, IT, and tourism sectors, and building the infrastructure to make Baku a key point on east/west and north/south
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