Recently, discussions around official statistical indicators related to the agricultural sector have increased.
According to information obtained by Modern.az, as doubts arose regarding official statistics related to the agricultural sector, instructions were given to re-clarify these figures at the level of local executive authorities.
According to claims, in some regions, productivity figures were inflated by 20-30 percent, while in other places, imported products were presented as local production. For example, some experts state that a portion of the sheep brought from Kazakhstan last year were slaughtered in Azerbaijan and documented as “local production.” Such facts call into question the effectiveness of agrarian policy.
The Modern.az website contacted Tahir Rzayev, Chairman of the Agrarian Policy Committee of the Milli Majlis, to ascertain his views on the inspections in the agricultural sector and the claims regarding whether the figures reflect reality.
The deputy stated that it is not appropriate to comment on the claims circulating regarding statistical data at this time. According to him, investigations are currently underway, and the matter will be clarified after the results:
“Specialists are conducting the investigations; we can only comment on this matter after the inspections are completed. I am not privy to those events to say whether the statistics are correct or incorrect. There is a State Statistical Committee; we obtain information from them and, naturally, we trust this information. However, if any ministry or enterprise does not present its statistical indicators correctly, this already requires extensive investigation.”
The committee chairman also noted that as a result of the ongoing inspections, some facts are confirmed, while others are refuted:
“Investigations are being conducted in every enterprise, whether in accounting services or other bodies. Where serious deficiencies or financial shortcomings are identified, measures are undoubtedly taken. In the case of minor errors, recommendations and suggestions are provided. But I emphasize once again, it is only possible to express a concrete opinion after the results of the inspections.”
Agricultural expert Vahid Maharramov believes that problems with statistics in Azerbaijan's agricultural sector are not new, and manipulations in this area have been occurring for years:
“I have repeatedly stated in my declarations and speeches that errors are made in statistical indicators. Once, I participated in a program on ANS TV with the Deputy Chairman of the State Statistical Committee. I selected specific figures from the Committee's official book and demonstrated with facts that production indicators were artificially inflated, while imports were reduced. This trend has been observed particularly since the 2010s. To show growth in the subsequent year, the figures from the previous year were later lowered.”
According to the expert, the same situation is evident today in agricultural statistics:
“For example, in 2019, during the former minister's tenure, wheat production was reported as 2 million 100 thousand tons. However, this year, 1 million 580 thousand tons were produced. A difference of 600 thousand tons is a significant indicator. Did Azerbaijan truly produce that much wheat? Of course not. If so much had been produced, why were 1 million 300 thousand tons of wheat imported? This is not possible.”
Our interviewee emphasized that in some cases, animals brought from abroad for slaughter are presented as local production:
“Animals brought into the country are slaughtered here and presented as domestic production. However, this is not correct. Furthermore, wheat imported from abroad is processed here and presented entirely as local production. The same situation applies to products like sugar and vegetable oil. In other words, this generally creates misleading statistics.”
V. Maharramov also pointed out that such problems are related to corruption and fraud:
“Recently, an entrepreneur even told me that inspectors from the Ministry of Agriculture came to check if his orchard was intensive. Although the orchard was ordinary, it was suggested, in exchange for a bribe, to bring dried branches and plant them in the ground, pretending it was an intensive orchard so they could receive subsidies. Such instances inflate statistical figures. Some officials present their areas as larger to receive more subsidies. As a result, economic indicators do not reflect reality.”
The agricultural expert also touched upon the importance of carrying out serious personnel reforms to eliminate these problems:
“Personnel reforms must be carried out in the Ministry of Agriculture, the Statistical Committee, and local executive bodies. Otherwise, instances of fraud and bribery will continue. This, in turn, directly negatively impacts the country's economy.”
According to the expert, inspections currently being conducted in some regions have also revealed exaggerations related to production and cultivated areas:
“Some deficiencies will come to light, but the overall situation will still not fully reflect the real picture. Currently, the situation in agriculture is very deplorable. New figures can only emerge after the inspections are completed,” V. Maharramov concluded.
