March 15, 2010

The Azerbaijani Emergency Situations Ministry has created grain reserves in the amount of 115,000 tonnes, Emergency Situations Minister Kamaladdin Heydarov said.

"Under the Azerbaijani Cabinet of Ministers' decision, the country's annual grain reserves should be 260,000 tonnes," the minister added.

So far, the ministry has commissioned a warehouse with a capacity of 30,000 tonnes in Nakhchivan and construction of a warehouse with a capacity of 60,000 tonnes in Ganja will be completed in May-June.

"We will soon complete the construction of warehouses to store grain in the Sangachal area in the Garadagh district of Baku," he said. After the completion of these facilities, a terminal with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes of grain will be built in Baku.

"The reserves are created from high quality grain, as we have informed the farmers providing them with the relevant criteria," he said.

He said, presently compared to other countries, Azerbaijan pays much more attention to farmers, in particular, those involved in the grain production. They receive subsidies to cover 50% of payment for the purchase of fuel and fertiliser. In addition, the Azerbaijani farmers are exempt from all taxes (except land tax).

Previously, the Azerbaijani Agriculture Ministry was authorised to regulate state reserves of grain and flour. Under the presidential decree dated April 23, 2008, the State Grain Fund transferred to the Emergency Situations Ministry.

In 2009, Azerbaijan has reached record levels in the production of grain products, which amounted to about three million tonnes of grain, taking into account the yield of corn. Azerbaijan also imports grain from Russia, Turkey and Kazakhstan.