Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijani President visited the industrial city of Sumgayit on February 25.

President Ilham Aliyev first visited a monument for national leader Heydar Aliyev in the city center.

During the visit, the president attended the opening ceremony of Azerbaijan's paper and cardboard processing factory under the Azersun Industrial Park in Sumgayit.

The factory was built by a soft loan from the National Fund for Entrepreneurship and funds of Azersun Holding.

The production is fully automated at the factory, with a special structure making it unique in the Caucasus. The facility consists of production building, subdivisions, and a warehouse, and has modern equipment which can produce high quality and competitive products.

The production process at the factory is based on international standards and practices. The processing capacity of the plant is 50,000 tons per year, and it employs 150 people.

The company also plays an important role in the prevention of environmental pollution by providing secondary use of waste paper.

The factory is expected to prevent the cut of 850,000 conifers per year, the destruction of forests, and hazardous substance emission. Ninety percent of the company's needs for raw materials will be met by blanking paper waste.

President Aliyev has also opened an oil factory in the Azersun Industrial Park.

The factory will produce 270,000 tons of oil products per year, including corn oil, safflower oil, cooking and chocolate butter, margarine, and mayonnaise. The facility will produce environmentally friendly and competitive products by using modern technology and equipment.

The products can be exported to Georgia, Iraq, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and other countries. The new facility includes 250 new jobs at present, while the number of jobs is expected to increase to 700 in the future.

The President met with the staff and congratulated them.

"Industrial development is a priority for us, and, not accidentally, this year has been declared the Year of Industry in Azerbaijan," he said.

President Aliyev said Azerbaijan's economy will become more competitive, and the operation of such facilities will boost the country's potential gurther.

"Sumgayit, as a modern industrial city, plays an important role in developing the industrial potentials of our country. One can say unemployment has been eliminated. The creation of social infrastructure is in focus in Sumgayit," he noted.

The Head of State stressed that much attention is paid to environmental protection. "All the industrial enterprises that are starting to operate in Sumgayit must meet the highest environmental standards."

He also attended the inauguration ceremony of a copper processing plant.

The National Fund for Entrepreneurship has allocated preferential loans worth 1.2 billion manats to financing the investment projects of about 20,000 entrepreneurs in the country.

More than 116,000 new jobs were created through these projects. A concessional loan worth 89.8 million manats was allocated to financing 318 investment projects in Sumgayit.

The plant produces copper cathode plates, the copper component of which is 99.99 percent, quite high. The main customers for the products are the enterprises located in the Sumgayit Technology Park.

The plant will be able to put a stop to copper products imports and supply domestic production.

The president also inspected the reconstruction and redevelopment work at the Sumgayit Seaside Park.

The "Green Theatre" project which will be constructed in Sumgayit was also presented.

On the same day, President Aliyev signed an order on extra measures to speed up socio-economic development of Sumgayit. Under the order, five million manats were allocated from the 2014 Reserve Fund of the President to the Sumgayit Executive Authorities.