EITI Implementation in Azerbaijan Comparing with the Experience of Mongolia and Norway

Azerbaijan, which declared an interest in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) ten years ago and joined it as a pilot country, is one of twenty-five compliant countries among the initiative’s thirty-nine members around the globe. The past eight years marked an important period for Azerbaijan’s EITI implementation. Before 2009, Azerbaijan was renowned as one of the leading EITI countries for its achievements in the implementation of the initiative. However, Azerbaijan, which successfully passed the EITI validation process in 2009, lost its lead in the EITI because it did not keep up with the initiative’s improved transparency standards. The paper looks at the key challenges facing EITI implementation in Azerbaijan and compares with the experience of two Participating States of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Mongolia and Norway. Mongolia is selected because of its strong performance within the EITI and Norway because of its extractive industry’s similarity with that of Azerbaijan, particularly major production of off-shore oil and gas. The paper begins with tracing the evolution of the EITI in Azerbaijan. Section three outlines key implementation challenges facing Azerbaijan. Sections four and five compare Azerbaijan’s key EITI challenges with the experience of Mongolia and Norway respectively. Section six offers recommendations for improving EITI implementation in Azerbaijan.