"Commitment of new provocations is not ruled out"

"Commitment of new provocations is not ruled out" - President Aliyev

13:29 16 July 2020 Read: 2092

"We also need to look through our military spending. In particular, military expenditures in next year's budget must fully cover the needs of our army," President Ilham Aliyev said.

The head of state made the remarks Wednesday during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers dedicated to the results of socio-economic development in the first quarter of 2020 and future objectives, AzVision.az reports.

"I am sure that all the measures taken by the end of the year will lead to better results in authorities of tax and customs. I would like to restate one figure. The volume of imports was the same in 2015 and the first six months of this year. However, in 2015, the customs authorities collected AZN 7 hundred million, this year more than AZN 2 billion. Thus, it is about three time more. This is the result of the relevant approach and transparency. If we did not conduct reforms in the fields of customs and tax, we would not achieve these results. The reforms carried out and the authentic results enable us to fully implement our budget plans. I highly appreciate the works carried out in this regard. According to leading international financial institutions, more than 150 countries have applied to international financial institutions for financial assistance. Azerbaijan is not on this list. Azerbaijan ensures its development at its own expense," President Aliyev noted.

"Besides, United Nations revealed a new Sustainable Development Report 2020, which measures the commitment of 166 nations to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Azerbaijan ranked 54th becoming a regional leader," the head of the state underlined.

"Taking into account the current situation, we need to review our military spending. It is not ruled out that taking advantage of the strikes to Armenia and the situation in which it is exposed, Armenia will commit another provocation. It is also necessary to note that according to the operative information activeness is observed by Armenia on the contact line betwee Azerbaijan and Armenia in Karabakh region. The situation is under full control of the Azerbaijani Army. Therefore, we need to re-examine our military spending. I always state that necessary funds will be allocated for the development of Army," President Ilham Aliyev noted.

More about: #IlhamAliyev