|
|
In This Issue:
|
Fact of the Week:
Azerbaijan marked National Media Day on July 22. The day coincides with the publication of the first newspaper in the country in 1875. The newspaper, Ekinchi, was owned by Hasanbey Zerdabi, who worked as the newspaper’s correspondent, editor, typist and even subscription and distribution agent. Today, Azerbaijan has hundreds of newspapers and magazines in circulation, dozens of radio and TV stations and an explosion in Internet access across the country.
|
| |
Sports Illustrated Names Azerbaijani Athletes
as Olympic Favorites
 Sports Illustrated magazine is predicting that four Azerbaijanis will take home Olympic medals in Beijing.
An article in this week’s issue of America’s top sports magazine predicts Elnur Mammadli will take a medal in judo, while Chamsulvara Chamsulvarayev will take a medal in freestyle wrestling. The magazine also predicts both Rovshan Bayramov and Farid Mansurov will win medals in Greco-Roman wrestling.
Azerbaijani athletes have taken home a total of nine medals in previous Olympics. These include one gold medal and two bronze medals in shooting, two gold medals and one silver medal in wrestling, and three bronze medals in boxing.
The Beijing Olympics begin on August 8.
BTC Pipeline Capacity to be Increased
 The capacity of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline will be increased by the end of 2008.
Originally designed for a capacity of one million barrels per day, the pipeline will soon be able to deliver 1.2 million barrels each day. The upgrade will cost an estimated $69 million.
The pipeline currently moves over 800,000 barrels of oil a day from the Caspian Sea, across Azerbaijan and Georgia, to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan.
Azerbaijan's light oil has been carried to global markets via the BTC pipeline since April 2007. The pipeline has been a key tool in unlocking Caspian energy reserves that had remained untapped until the mid-1990s, when then-President Heydar Aliyev invited foreign oil companies to enter into agreements with Azerbaijan for energy exploration and extraction.
Azerbaijan to Boost Electricity Production
 Azerbaijan expects to increase its energy production by as much as 60 percent in the next few years, Azerbaijan’s energy officials said July 22.
The production increase will come from several conventional power stations as well as the Azerbaijan Thermoelectric Power Station, the largest in the region, UPI Energy reported.
Marlen Asgarov, vice president of the energy firm Azerenerji, said several electrical power stations will go online by the end of 2008, with new projects, including the thermoelectric plant, slated for completion in the coming years.
Plans for increased development through Azerenerji will be presented to the Azerbaijani government soon, Asgarov said.
"It will enable [us] not only to secure the internal electricity demand of Azerbaijan, but also to realize its export," he said.
Report: BP Engineers Headed to Azerbaijan
 British energy company BP said it will move some of the 60 engineers it has recalled from Russia to Azerbaijan and other countries “where their skills are needed,” the Associated Press reported this week.
The report said BP recalled 60 engineers from its TNK-BP joint venture in Russia. BP said it made the decision "reluctantly," adding that the engineers have been unable to do their job since March after problems arose with their visas.
BP said the engineers are due to leave the country over the next two to three months, and will go to other BP projects in Azerbaijan, Mexico and the Middle East.
BP is one of the largest oil companies operating in Azerbaijan.
|
