"Despite the fact that poverty is 4.8%, and there are no poor people in Azerbaijani streets like in some cities. Now, look at cities of developed countries; there are thousands of homeless people in the capitals of the biggest countries. They sleep either in boxes, on benches or they build small tents for themselves and sleep there. We see this on TV. Do we have something like this? We do not! Why? Because the state cares about its citizens," said Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on February 3 at the conference dedicated to the results of the first year of the execution of "The State Program on the Social-Economic Development of regions of Azerbaijan Republic in 2019-2023".
The head of state said: "Despite the fact that the number of unemployed and poor people decreases, I have given the instruction to increase the number of people receiving targeted social assistance. New criteria should be set for this, so that there is no poor person left in our country. If an entrepreneur wants to earn 5 more AZN, he fires a worker. This is intolerable. If there are facts, tell me, we will talk to those entrepreneurs in a proper way. Therefore, there must be responsibility before the state, people and law.
The fight against the shadow economy will be continued. There are two parties here as well: those who turn a blind eye to this and those who do this. This agreement must be terminated and is terminated. Now, the state does not turn a blind eye, and entrepreneurs should take their business our of the shadow for 100%. The state and our central executive bodies carry out this process gradually showing understanding, because those, who do this, have been carrying out such works for decades, during the Soviet time, and they are used to it. For this reason, an end must be put to it. Shadow economy must not exist, it is very simple. It is true that it exists everywhere, in every country. It has reached an intolerable extent in our country. When that analysis was given to me, actually, I became horrified.
Therefore, we must put an end to it. How have tax and customs bodies managed to collect additional 1 bln AZN last year? They could do it, because that money was flowing to somebody’s pocket, and an Azerbaijani citizen was deprived of that money. We could execute the mentioned social initiative by ensuring transparency. That money to every cent went to the pensions, allowances and benefits of the people. Can we turn a blind eye to shadow economy now? Definitely no! I reiterate again that we must put an end to shadow economy, and state bodies have determined a transitional period for that, because it would not be right to take tight measures from the beginning. People should get used to it gradually.
However, we cannot extend this compromise period any longer. For this reason, this year, the entire economy must be taken out of the shadow; all entrepreneurs must pay taxes. If somebody wants to work by the old rules again, they should know that they will not be able to do it. There will be no compromise for anybody. Now, everybody knows it. Everybody is equal. There is no entrepreneur who is untouchable, and there is no untouchable official. Everybody will receive their assessment, award and punishment based on their deeds. You must know that."
