AZE.US
Natig Jafarli, the chairman of Azerbaijan’s REAL Party, has criticized the government’s approach to small and medium-sized businesses, saying officials are finally acknowledging a problem they themselves helped build.
In a public comment, Jafarli referred to media reports saying the Cabinet of Ministers met on Thursday and discussed the removal of barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises. He said the very fact that the issue was discussed could be seen as good news, because it suggests the government has at last recognized that small and medium-sized businesses are being squeezed.
But he added that the bad news is that many of those responsible for creating this environment were sitting in the same meeting.
According to Jafarli, business owners are not expecting slogans from the government. What they want, he said, is a reduction in excessive regulation, fewer intrusive checks by state agencies, and a higher VAT-free turnover threshold for small businesses. He argued that the exemption ceiling should be raised to 1 million manats.
Jafarli also called for the dismantling of what he described as unnecessary state structures that interfere in business activity. Among them, he singled out the Azerbaijan Food Safety Agency, or AQTA, arguing that bodies like this have become more of a burden than a support mechanism for entrepreneurs.
His central point was blunt: for many small business owners, the biggest help the state can offer is simply to stop getting in the way.
Jafarli said Azerbaijani citizens are hardworking, entrepreneurial and capable of sustaining both themselves and the broader economy if they are given room to operate. In his view, people are ready to work long hours, know how to trade and build businesses, and do not need constant administrative pressure on top of existing economic challenges.
His remarks tap into a broader and long-running debate in Azerbaijan over whether small and medium-sized businesses can become a real pillar of the economy while entrepreneurs continue to face heavy regulation and institutional interference.