Category: Azer News

A Georgian company has confirmed that it supplied around 300 tonnes of petrol to Abkhazia, saying the shipment was carried out legally under a government-issued authorization to operate in the region, AzerNEWS reports.

The shipment has sparked controversy in Georgia amid speculation that Georgian fuel could ultimately have been used to supply Russian military personnel stationed in Abkhazia.

According to RFE/RL, the petrol was imported by Solidus, whose permit to operate in Abkhazia was extended for another three months under a decree signed by Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on August 11.

The decision has drawn criticism from Georgian opposition parties and civil society groups, who have questioned the circumstances surrounding the shipment and the government’s authorization.

Former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who remains imprisoned on various charges, also commented on the issue.

Writing on Facebook, Saakashvili claimed that the fuel was “actually going to the southern regions of Russia,” which he said were experiencing shortages following Ukrainian strikes.

The allegations regarding the ultimate destination and possible use of the fuel have not been independently confirmed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on European partners to provide more air defense systems and interceptors to help protect Ukraine from attacks, AzerNEWS reports.

According to Zelenskyy, fires caused by the attacks in Kyiv were quickly extinguished, while emergency repair and recovery operations are underway. Six people were injured in Kyiv and the surrounding region.

He noted that Kremenchuk and Kryvyi Rih were also targeted by ballistic missiles. In Kryvyi Rih, two people were killed and another 14 were injured. Zelenskyy also reported a death in Sumy and expressed condolences to the victim’s family and loved ones.

“It is very important that the dedication of our people is complemented by new steps from our partners to protect the skies,” Zelenskyy said, warning that European interceptor systems should not remain unused in storage.

He stressed that strengthening Ukraine’s air defense would directly contribute to saving lives and protecting critical infrastructure.

The decision on Armenia’s future participation in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) should be made within a reasonable timeframe, CSTO Secretary-General Taalatbek Masadykov told RIA Novosti.

“We proceed from the assumption that a decision regarding the prospects of Armenia’s participation in the CSTO should be made within a reasonable timeframe,” Masadykov said.

Earlier, Russia’s permanent representative to the CSTO, Viktor Vasiliev, told RIA Novosti that any decision to suspend Armenia’s voting rights within the organization would require consensus among member states.

Vasiliev also said that the next session of the CSTO Collective Security Council is scheduled to take place in Moscow on November 11, where the leaders of the member states may discuss the issue.

On June 10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Armenia had accumulated debts to the organization for more than two years.

The remarks come amid continued tensions between Armenia and the CSTO, as Yerevan has significantly reduced its participation in the organization’s activities.

Spanish Health Minister Mónica García stated that around 5,800 migrants have received medical assistance in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta following a major influx of irregular migrants at the end of July, AzerNEWS reports.

According to the minister, medical services have treated approximately 5,800 migrants over the past 15 days. She stressed that the surge had not caused a collapse of the local healthcare system.

At the end of July, tens of thousands of irregular migrants managed to enter Ceuta by swimming or walking around the breakwater separating the Spanish enclave from Morocco.

Amid the crisis, Madrid decided to deploy military personnel to support security efforts in the city.

Most of the migrants have since returned to Morocco. However, according to Spanish authorities, around 5,000 migrants may still remain in Ceuta.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi held talks with U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Jared Kushner in the city of El Alamein to discuss the Gaza conflict and other regional crises, AzerNEWS reports, citing foreign media.

Kushner is also expected to meet with a Hamas delegation in Cairo to discuss Trump’s proposed peace plan.

His visit to Egypt comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected Trump’s 15-point peace plan.

Nicholas Mladenov, the Peace Council’s senior representative for Gaza, is expected to accompany Kushner during the talks in Cairo.

The discussions are expected to focus on several key issues, including the deployment of international coalition forces in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the delivery of humanitarian assistance.

Trkiye has successfully developed a domestically made heart-lung machine in collaboration with ASELSAN and the Ministry of Health, AzerNEWS reports.

According to Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu, serial production of the device is expected to begin by the end of the year.

Memisoglu said Trkiye’s healthcare system has made significant progress over the past 25 years. He noted that more than 3 million foreign nationals currently travel to Trkiye each year for medical treatment, while the country also provides healthcare support to other nations.

The minister highlighted improvements in infant mortality, saying the rate fell from 31.5 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2002 to 7.8 in 2025.

He also emphasized that citizens can now register as organ donors through the e-Devlet and e-Nabiz platforms, with the number of registered donors reaching 250,000.

Memisoglu further announced that preparations are underway to produce eight vaccines domestically, with production of at least six expected to begin in the coming weeks.

He added that Trkiye aims to manufacture more than 70 percent of its ultrasound devices domestically within two years, further expanding the country’s local medical technology capabilities.

SOCAR is no longer a company whose fortunes can be understood simply by looking at Azerbaijan’s domestic economy. Its 2025 financial results offer a much broader picture: Azerbaijan’s state oil company is increasingly becoming a global energy business, with a growing share of its commercial activity taking place beyond the country’s borders. That transformation is not only strengthening SOCAR itself; it could also make Azerbaijan’s economy more resilient.

The numbers are striking. SOCAR generated AZN 86.3 billion in sales revenue in 2025. Of this amount, AZN 50.6 billion, or 58.6%, was attributed to Switzerland. Trkiye accounted for another AZN 16.5 billion, while Azerbaijan generated AZN 13.7 billion. In other words, the Azerbaijani market accounted for less than one-sixth of SOCAR’s consolidated sales revenue.

These figures should not be interpreted simply as evidence that SOCAR is selling enormous quantities of oil and gas directly to Swiss consumers. Switzerland is a major international commodity-trading center, and SOCAR Trading, the company’s international marketing and development arm, is based in this global trading environment. The importance of Switzerland in SOCAR’s revenue structure therefore reflects the increasingly international nature of the company’s trading operations.

This is strategically important. A traditional national oil company is usually heavily dependent on the economic and energy conditions of its home country. SOCAR, however, is gradually developing a different structure. Its production base remains closely connected to Azerbaijan, but its commercial network extends far beyond it.

Trkiye is perhaps the clearest example. SOCAR has built a substantial industrial presence there spanning refining, petrochemicals, energy and other strategic sectors. Its Turkish operations include the STAR Refinery and Petkim, while the company has also expanded into logistics, infrastructure and other areas. SOCAR’s sales revenue from Trkiye increased by 71.1% in 2025, reaching AZN 16.5 billion.

This means Trkiye is not simply another foreign market for SOCAR. It is becoming a major industrial platform through which Azerbaijan participates in a much larger regional economy.

The same logic can be seen in SOCAR’s broader international expansion. In 2025, the company continued to increase its international asset portfolio and strengthen its position along the energy value chain. It acquired a 10% effective interest in Israel’s Tamar gas field and expanded its international partnerships, while also continuing projects connected with refining, petrochemicals, gas and energy infrastructure.

At the same time, SOCAR has not abandoned its Azerbaijani foundation. Quite the opposite. The company continues to invest in domestic assets, including the redevelopment of the mature Bahar and Gum-Deniz fields. SOCAR and SLB signed an agreement in 2025 aimed at accelerating the redevelopment of these fields and improving their production potential.

This creates an important balance. Azerbaijan remains the foundation of SOCAR, but it is no longer the entire business environment in which SOCAR operates.

That distinction matters for Azerbaijan itself.

If SOCAR earned almost all of its revenue inside Azerbaijan, the company would be far more exposed to domestic economic conditions. Its performance would depend heavily on the size of the local market, domestic demand and developments within Azerbaijan’s own economy.

A globally active SOCAR has a different risk profile. Its revenues are connected to international oil and gas trading, refining, petrochemicals, transportation, energy infrastructure and foreign markets. A downturn in one market does not necessarily translate into an equivalent downturn across the entire group.

This does not mean that SOCAR has become independent of Azerbaijan. It has not. Its ownership, strategic role and resource base remain fundamentally Azerbaijani. But its growing international footprint means that Azerbaijan is effectively exporting not only hydrocarbons, but also corporate expertise, capital and business capabilities.

That could become increasingly valuable as the global energy system changes.

The future of energy will not be determined solely by how much oil or gas a country produces. Trading networks, refining capacity, petrochemicals, infrastructure, technology and access to international markets will increasingly determine who captures value from the energy chain.

SOCAR is already moving in that direction.

The significance of the 2025 revenue figures therefore goes beyond the size of SOCAR’s balance sheet. They show the emergence of a company whose economic geography is becoming much larger than Azerbaijan itself.

Azerbaijan built SOCAR as its national energy company. SOCAR is now building a global business that can, in turn, strengthen Azerbaijan.

That may ultimately be one of the most important advantages of SOCAR’s internationalization: the stronger the company becomes outside Azerbaijan, the more economic value Azerbaijan can potentially derive from having a global energy champion of its own.

Large-scale forest and vegetation fires are raging across several German states amid high temperatures and persistent drought, AzerNEWS reports, citing foreign media.

In Hrtgenwald, North Rhine-Westphalia, firefighters have extinguished the open flames at the site of a historic wildfire. Around 1,800 residents who had been evacuated from the affected area have since returned home.

Near the Belgian border, the wildfire close to the city of Monschau has spread across an area of up to 3,000 hectares. Although the risk of the fire spreading into Germany has decreased, authorities have issued a warning to around 5,000 residents because of heavy smoke.

In Waldaschaff, Bavaria, around 80 people were evacuated because of a wildfire. They were allowed to return after the blaze was brought under control.

Meanwhile, 22 rescue workers were injured while fighting a fire in the Langscheid area of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Similar wildfire outbreaks have also been reported in Saarland, Saxony, Thuringia and Baden-Wrttemberg. Emergency response measures have prevented the flames from spreading further in most affected areas.

Ukraine’s Defense Forces carried out an overnight airstrike on August 16 against the Kamensky military plant in the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky in Russia’s Rostov region, AzerNEWS reports, citing the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

According to the statement published on Telegram, a fire broke out at the facility following the strike. The extent of the damage is currently being assessed.

The Kamensky plant is part of Russia’s defense industry and manufactures solid propellants for Uragan, Smerch and Tornado-S multiple launch rocket systems, as well as other missile systems and air-launched missiles.

The facility’s products are used to meet the operational needs of the Russian Armed Forces.

Germany’s struggling automotive industry is facing further pressure as employment in the sector continues to decline, AzerNEWS reports.

According to Germany’s Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), the number of people employed at automotive manufacturing companies fell by 42,300, or 5.8%, in the first six months of the year compared with the same period in 2025.

Following the decline, employment in Germany’s automotive industry dropped to 691,500. This is the lowest level recorded since 2005.

Despite the decline, the automotive industry remains Germany’s second-largest industrial sector after mechanical engineering, which employs around 905,900 people.

The sharpest employment decline within the automotive sector was recorded in the production of vehicle parts and accessories. Employment in this segment fell by 7.6% to 219,500.

Employment in the production of vehicles and engines declined by 6.1% over the same period.

Across Germany’s manufacturing sector as a whole, employment fell by 2.7% year-on-year to 5.29 million during the reporting period, highlighting the broader challenges facing the country’s industrial economy.