AZERBAIJAN - Decision Making System.

President Ilham Aliyev takes all decisions relating to petroleum or any other sector of importance in Azerbaijan. The state organisations and ministries are paralysed by the need to refer decisions to him. As was the case during the reign of his father, Heidar Aliyev who died in late 2003, Ilham who inherited the rulership leads the decision making process. But again foreign oil executives complain of waiting for months for deals to be sorted out, as no one dares to act without clearance from the very top. This is the consequence of the centralisation of real power in the presidency.

Corruption and nepotism remain widespread. Critics call Aliyev's new regime a kleptocracy no different from the one Ilham Aliyev inherited from his father, although other Central Asian rulers are much wealthier with Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev being among the richest men in the world. Even some of Aliyev's opponents are corrupt, as in the case of former parliament speaker Rasul Kuliyev, who once was a close ally his later father.

The entity in charge of the petroleum sector is the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (Socar), which is a huge conglomerate of companies for the various upstream and downstream branches of the industry, including the couutry's two oil refineries. Azerigaz is the country's gas utility and is in charge of the gas pipelines. AzerEnergi is the country's power utility controlling both generation and distribution. The State Fuel & Energy Committee is in charge of distribution of petroleum products. Azerikimya oversees the petrochemicals sector (see DT No. 5).