Political Risk:
Very High
Score:
18/100
Defence and Security Policy and Policy Transparency
Q1
25/100
Is there formal provision for effective and independent legislative scrutiny of defence policy?
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Parliamentary scrutiny of defеnce policy is performed in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan (1), the Law on Defence (2), the…
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There is no effective, meaningful, and open debate or review on defence policy in the Azerbaijani Parliament. Many parliamentarians believe that talking about military…
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Some experts argue that the defence policy is usually prepared by people in the Ministry of Finance, the Cabinet of Ministers and the presidential…
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Q2
10/100
Does the country have an identifiable and effective parliamentary defence and security committee (or similar such organisations) to exercise oversight?
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There is Committee for Defence, Security and Anti-Corruption in Azerbaijani Parliament with 12 members (1). The committee doesn’t have the power to scrutinise the…
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Only two of the twelve members of the committee know about defence and security issues. Thus, observations show that it is not possible to…
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So far, the parliament has adopted three documents on security and defence: the National Security Concept in 2007 (1), the Military Doctrine in 2010…
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According to experts, the committee’s activities are completely formal and have no real effect on what has happened in the defence and security sector…
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There is no information from local sources or in official statements that the CDSAC has undertaken investigations on current activities. Until now, no committee…
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There is not enough information avaialble to score this indicator. According to experts, the parliament has never given any advice or recommendations to the…
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Q3
19/100
Is the country’s national defence policy or national security strategy debated and publicly available?
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There are four major documents on Security and Defence: National Security Concept in 2007 (1), the Military Doctrine in 2010 (2), the Maritime Security…
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There has been no serious discussion of defence policy and strategy in recent years. Discussions that were conducted were very superficial, and important issues…
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There has been no formal consultation process involving the public in the last five years (1, 2).
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Besides the Strategic Defence Review, all three documents (National Security Concept, the Military Doctrine and the Maritime Security Strategy) are publically available (1, 2,…
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Q4
8/100
Do defence and security institutions have a policy, or evidence, of openness towards civil society organisations (CSOs) when dealing with issues of corruption?
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There are numerous laws (1, 2) on public associations, NGOs and the media in Azerbaijan, though freedom of speech and press is guaranteed from…
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At present, serious restrictions on NGO activities are imposed in Azerbaijan. Highly restrictive and punitive regulations, on NGOs, adopted in 2014 and 2015 make…
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In the Military Doctrine of the Azerbaijan Republic (9), openness is described in two cases: Article 1.9 states: “Where necessary, civil society organizations and…
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Q5
63/100
Has the country signed up to the following international anti-corruption instruments: UNCAC and the OECD Convention?
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Azerbaijan is not a significant defence exporter despite the leadership’s statements that it has produced many defence products; these are for domestic consumption. It…
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According to Natig EYVAZOV (Prosecutor Organizational and Information Support Department Anti-Corruption Directorate with the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Azerbaijan), “during the period…
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Q6
13/100
Is there evidence of regular, active public debate on issues of defence? If yes, does the government participate in this debate?
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There are very few debates and active discussions on military issues in Azerbaijan since 2014. In September 2014, President Ilham Aliyev issued a decree…
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Discussions with critical experts have been restricted in recent years, and government representatives do not participate in these discussions (1). The Defence Ministry holds…
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Q7
38/100
Does the country have an openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption policy for the defence sector?
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There is not any openly stated and effectively implemented anti-corruption plan for defence sector in Azerbaijan. But Parliament has adopted the Law of the…
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There are some special action plans at the ministry level in Azerbaijan, but they are secret. The National Strategy on Increasing Transparency and Combating…
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Q8
25/100
Are there independent, well-resourced, and effective institutions within defence and security tasked with building integrity and countering corruption?
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In general, there are no independent, well resourced, and effective institutions within the defence and security sector that are tasked with building integrity and…
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There is no information about the activities of these investigative bodies within the Defence Ministry for the last four years. According to the Chief…
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There is no information about the activities of the new investigation units within the Defence Ministry (MoD). External organisations, such as the Chamber of…
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Q9
NS/100
Does the public trust the institutions of defence and security to tackle the issue of bribery and corruption in their establishments?
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This indicator is not assigned a score in the GDI. The defence and security sector has been infected with corruption and bribery, and the…
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Q10
0/100
Are there regular assessments of the areas of greatest corruption risk for ministry and armed forces personnel, and are the findings used as inputs to the anti-corruption policy?
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Corruption risks are not clearly identified. There is no evidence of regular assessments by the defence and security institutions in internal (1) or external…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as there is no evidence on the regularity of assessments by the defence and security institutions. According…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as the defence and security sector is closed and not transparent. As such, no information is given…
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Defence Budgets
Q11
25/100
Does the country have a process for acquisition planning that involves clear oversight, and is it publicly available?
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The main law governing public procurement in Azerbaijan is the Law on Public Procurement (2001) (1). According to experts, the existing law has shortcomings,…
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Currently, in Azerbaijan, the public has limited access to information about the process itself, because a great deal of information is excluded from publication…
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External oversight over procurement and expenses is carried out by the Milli Majlis and the Chamber of Accounts. The Chamber of Accounts is the…
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Q12
38/100
Is the defence budget transparent, showing key items of expenditure? And it is provided to the legislature in a timely fashion?
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One of the main goals of Azerbaijan’s budgetary policy since 2006 is to “create financial support for the country’s defence capacity and security” (1),…
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The Parliament of Azerbaijan receives the draft budget proposal between one to two months before the start of the budget year (1, 2). For…
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Q13
0/100
Is there a legislative committee (or other appropriate body) responsible for defence budget scrutiny and analysis in an effective way?
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There is a Committee for Defence, Security and Anti-Corruption in Azerbaijani Parliament with twelve members (1). The committee does not have the power to…
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The Committee for Defence, Security and Anti-Corruption in Azerbaijani Parliament has no impact on defence budget decision-making. According to the website of the Parliament…
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Q14
25/100
Is the approved defence budget made publicly available? In practice, can citizens, civil society, and the media obtain detailed information on the defence budget?
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The state budget is approved by the president after the adoption by parliament and then published in the state media (1). However, the budget…
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The defence budget is primarily defined under the name of “General Defence Expenses”, followed by “Defence Forces” (including the Defence Ministry), “National Security” (State…
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In Azerbaijan it is extremely difficult or impossible to get any information on the military budget. Azerbaijan has spent billions of dollars on weapons…
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Q15
17/100
Are sources of defence income other than from central government allocation (from equipment sales or property disposal, for example) published and scrutinised?
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There is no practice of publishing defence income information in Azerbaijan. Officials and experts have commented on this issue at different times. When they…
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The Chamber of Accounts gave an opinion about the expenditures and inaccuracies in the state budget, and this included the defence sector (1), it…
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In recent years, NGOs and media in Azerbaijan have failed to debate military issues (1). Power structures make serious pressure on non-governmental organizations. Because…
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Q16
0/100
Is there an effective internal audit process for defence ministry expenditure (that is, for example, transparent, conducted by appropriately skilled individuals, and subject to parliamentary oversight)?
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An internal audit law was adopted in Azerbaijan in 2007. This law applies to entities working on the territory of the Azerbaijan Republic and…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as there is no internal audit of defence ministry expenditure. A law on internal audits was adopted…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable,, as there is no internal audit of defence ministry expenditure. A law on internal audits was adopted…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as there is no internal audit of defence ministry expenditure. A law on internal audits was adopted…
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Q17
13/100
Is there effective and transparent external auditing of military defence expenditure?
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The Chamber of Accounts is not legally competent to play an audit role, but it has to identify the implementation of budgetary issues in…
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According to the law, the Chamber of Accounts is a permanent state budgetary and financial control body reporting to the Parliament. The Chamber of…
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External audit reports are rarely published online and many issues are not reflected in detail. The audit reports of the Ministry of Defence are…
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Issues such as investigating the audit findings and solving problems in the Defence Ministry are not publicly available. Facts show that there are cases…
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Nexus of Defence and National Assets
Q18
33/100
Is there evidence that the country’s defence institutions have controlling or financial interests in businesses associated with the country’s natural resource exploitation and, if so, are these interests publicly stated and subject to scrutiny?
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There are legal restrictions on defence institutions and individuals having controlling or financial interests in businesses. According to the Law on the Status of…
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There is not enough informtion to score this indicator. Azerbaijan’s natural resources, and its protection, play an important role in the development of several…
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There is not enough information to score this indicator. This is because it’s currently difficult to ascertain whether there are MoD personnel involved in…
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According to the law, officials from the Defence Institutions cannot engage in business activities (1). At the same time, there is no transparency in…
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The issue of “involvement of defence agencies in the businesses relating to the country‘s natural resource exploitation” is not discussed either by the parliament…
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Organised Crime
Q19
25/100
Is there evidence, for example through media investigations or prosecution reports, of a penetration of organised crime into the defence and security sector? If no, is there evidence that the government is alert and prepared for this risk?
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According to official statements, media reports and interviewees there is some evidence of penetration of organised crime in the defence and security sector under…
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The military prosecutor Khanlar Veliyev has noted the fight against corruption in the defence and security sector. According to him, in 2017, 123 criminal…
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Q20
38/100
Is there policing to investigate corruption and organised crime within the defence services and is there evidence of the effectiveness of this policing?
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There is a Department of Struggle Against Organized Crime” at the Ministry of Internal Affairs (1). Its major duties include combating organized crime, suppression…
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Under the national law, the Department of Struggle Against Organized Crime can identify and tackle the organised crimes (outlined in 20A) in any Ministry.…
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There is not enough information covering the GDI 2020 research period to score this indicator. According to an official from MoD, there was established…
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Control of Intelligence Services
Q21
0/100
Are the policies, administration, and budgets of the intelligence services subject to effective and independent oversight?
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In December 2015, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree, setting up the State Security Service and Foreign Intelligence Service through the Ministry of National…
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At present, the Prosecutor’s Office has a special investigative group investigating the crime of the former Ministry of National Security leadership (1); however, there…
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Q22
0/100
Are senior positions within the intelligence services filled on the basis of objective selection criteria, and are appointees subject to investigation of their suitability and prior conduct?
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According to the Law on Civil Service, a civil servant is a citizen of the Republic of Azerbaijan who swears that he will be…
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Intelligence services are considered to be the “right hand” of the ruling power in Azerbaijan, and the control over the situation in the country…
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There is no official explanation. Observations show that no official investigations into candidates are held. There is no government agency to oversee the process.…
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Export Controls
Q23
0/100
Does the government have a well-scrutinised process for arms export decisions that aligns with Articles 7.1.iv, 11.5, and 15.6 of the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT)?
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Azerbaijan has not signed the Arms Trade Treaty (1). Until 2014 Azerbaijan regularly reported its arms imports to the United Nations (2). According to…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as Azerbaijan has not signed the Arms Trade Treaty (1)
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There is no domestic or international control mechanisms for arms exports (1). There is no accountability, the parliament is not informed about the process…
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Lobbying in Defence
There is no legislation regulating lobbying activities in Azerbaijan. The Anti-Corruption Law (1) and the Law on Public Procurement (2) do not contain any…
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as there is no legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector.
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as there is no legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector.
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This indicator has been marked Not Applicable, as there is no legislation that regulates lobbying in the defence sector.
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