Aliyev hails fight against shadow economy in Azerbaijan [UPDATE]

31 March 2020 17:06 (UTC+04:00)

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By Ofeliya Afandiyeva

President Ilham Aliyev has said that eliminating shadow economy is the main part of economic reforms carried out in the country and that considerable success has been achieved in this direction.

President Ilham Aliyev made the remarks while receiving the Minister of Economy Mikayil Jabbarov on March 31.

“Our planned reforms for general economic development must also be deepened. The pandemic should not hinder us here, we should not waste time. Our main goal - I set this task before the Ministry of Economy - is to reduce the size of the shadow economy. I think that major steps have been taken in this direction,” the head of the state said.

The president mentioned that in 2019, tax and customs authorities, by reducing the share of the shadow economy, provided revenues to the state budget in excess of the forecast of $589.4 million.

“This year began successfully and in the first two months due to the fight against the shadow economy, additional revenues from the tax and customs authorities amounted to $147.3 million. This process will continue. Once again I want to appeal to representatives of private business. We are carrying out fundamental reforms, which means the end of the shadow economy. However we do everything in order, there are hundreds, maybe thousands of business entities. We gave them time. At the same time, the Ministry of Economy gave them time and raised awareness in this direction. This is not a surprise for business, it is our policy and strategy,” Aliyev said.

The head of state stressed that the time has come when business entities should come out of the shadows. “I think that the time provided was enough. It is time for businesses to put an end to this. We were patient, given enough time,” he said.

Aliyev said that many entrepreneurs have already come out of the shadow economy and operate in the white market, paying state taxes.

“However, there are entrepreneurs who still think they will work in the old way. I want to tell them unequivocally that this will not happen and no one will help them. If someone relies on acquaintances, relatives, or friends in office, he is on the wrong path. He himself will be punished, and his patron will be punished.”