By Ayya Lmahamad
Azerbaijan increased the volume of gold exports by 11.6 percent in the first ten months of 2020 compared to the same period last year, the Center for Economic Reforms Analysis and Communication of Azerbaijan reported in its “Export Review” for November.
Exports amounted to $158.7 million during the period of January-October versus $142.1 million in the same period last year.
It should be noted that during the reported periods in 2020 and 2021, gold ranked second in the list of non-oil exports. Tomatoes ranked first both in 2020 and 2019, while cotton ranked third in 2020 and hazelnuts in 2019.
Moreover, the country exported gold in the amount of $9.4 million in October, which is a decrease compared to the same month of 2019. Thus, Azerbaijan's gold export amounted to $12 million in October 2019.
It should be noted that during the first ten months of the year, AzerGold's exports increased by 25.5 percent or $17.9 million, compared to the same period of 2019, and amounted to $88.2 million.
The volume of Azerbaijan’s overall exports amounted to $12.2 billion, including $1.4 billion in the non-oil sector, during the first ten months of 2020.
Gold mining in Azerbaijan is currently carried out by two companies - AzerGold CJSC, which owns 51 percent in Azerbaijan’s gold share, and Anglo Asian Mining PLC, with 49 percent of shares. PSA type contract was signed on August 21, 1997, and envisages the development of six fields.
Extraction of the first gold in Azerbaijan started in 2009, and silver in 2010.
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Ayya Lmahamad is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @AyyaLmahamad
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