Budget revenues of the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) for the period of January-September, 2020 reached AZN 6 593.1 million, while budget expenditures constituted AZN 9 046.3 million.

Revenue of AZN 6 235.1 million was received from the implementation of oil and gas agreements, including AZN 5 445.5 million from the sale of profit oil and gas, AZN 767.8 million as bonus payments, AZN 6.8 million as acreage fee and AZN 15.0 million as transit payments.

The revenues from managing SOFAZ’s assets for January-September 2020 amounted to AZN 358.0 million.

SOFAZ’s extra-budgetary revenues related to the foreign exchange movements amounted to AZN 2 394.0 million.

As per 2020 budget of the Fund, AZN 8 852.5 million were transferred to the state budget. During this period, AZN 178.5 million were directed to financing the improvement of social-economic condition of refugees and internally displaced persons and AZN 0.4 million were allocated to the “State Program on Raising Competitiveness of Higher Education in Azerbaijan in 2019-2023”. SOFAZ’s administrative and operational expenses for the reporting period totaled AZN 14.9 million.

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an unprecedented collapse in oil demand in the context of economic contraction, and a crash in oil prices. The SOFAZ`s budget spending exceeded its revenues to support fiscal balance of the country, leading to a decrease in its investment assets. As of 30 September, 2020, the value of SOFAZ`s assets under management amounted to USD 43 288.6 million, decreasing by 0.08% compared to the start of the year (USD 43 323.3 million).