Azerbaijan's state energy company SOCAR, once a lavish spender on projects ranging from new hospitals to the Eurovision song contest, has closed several offices abroad to curb spending as oil prices slump, Reuters reports, citing its president.
Azerbaijani oil company closes offices abroad after oil price fall
STEPANAKERT, MAY 26, ARTSAKHPRESS: Oil-rich Azerbaijan's economy and currency, the Manat, have come under intense pressure from sliding oil prices and ratings agency Fitch downgraded SOCAR on Feb. 29 to 'BB+' with a negative outlook.
The country's parliament in February revised its 2016 state budget to base it on an average oil price of $25 per barrel, down from original forecasts based on a price of $50.
"The fall in oil prices has led to a reduction in the number of SOCAR structures," SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev told reporters on Wednesday, adding that operations had been transferred to the central office in the Azeri capital Baku and other SOCAR-owned companies.
