BP accused of discriminating against Azeri staff – paper

Ekho, Baku
30 Nov 04

Britain’s BP has been accused of discriminating against the local
staff in Azerbaijan at the 58th Rose-Roth seminar of the NATO
Parliamentary Assembly in Baku. Azerbaijani and Turkish MPs were
irritated by a BP official’s refusal to report on the salary of
locally employed people and that of expatriates, Azerbaijani newspaper
Ekho reported. Also discussed at the seminar was the security of
Caspian energy resources. The head of the Azerbaijani State Oil
Company, Natiq Aliyev, said that Baku, Tbilisi and Ankara had agreed
not to militarize transport communications, while taking measures
against possible acts of sabotage on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline. The following if the text of R. Orucov’s report by
Azerbaijani newspaper Ekho on 30 November headlined “Rose-Roth seminar
ends in accusations of BP”; subheadings have been inserted
editorially:

The 58th Rose-Roth seminar of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which
was held in our country for the first time, finished on 27
November. On the closing day, Azerbaijani Defence Minister Col-Gen
Safar Abiyev addressed the seminar.

Azerbaijan ready to host NATO exercises

In his remarks, the defence minister said that in its military policy
Azerbaijan was adhering to the concept of defence sufficiency – “the
ability to ward off any attacks”. Abiyev added that back in 1997
Azerbaijan set up a peacekeeping company to contribute to
international operations “which then grew into a battalion and now we
are preparing a brigade”. The minister said Azerbaijan was ready to
host any NATO exercises. He noted that the charters of active
participants in NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme contain an
article urging them to refrain from violating the territorial
integrity of neighbouring countries.

There is a total of 76,000 personnel in the Azerbaijani army
today. More than 4,000 civilian specialists work in the system of the
Defence Ministry and the figure is expected to rise, Abiyev said. He
also expressed his astonishment with the fact that certain western
countries are officially allocating millions of dollars in assistance
to Armenia and to the separatist regime in Nagornyy Karabakh every
year.

Caspian energy security discussed

The second half of the day was dedicated to the security of Caspian
energy resources. The president of the State Oil Company of the
Azerbaijani Republic [SOCAR], Natiq Aliyev, made a presentation,
saying that two countries, Iran and Turkmenistan, are still opposed to
dividing the Caspian, the idea supported by Azerbaijan, Russia and
Kazakhstan. Another issue is the delivery of energy resources to world
markets. “We have agreed with Georgia and Turkey to avoid the
militarization of transport communications and to take precautionary
measures. We are mindful of acts of sabotage aimed at undermining
major energy projects like the BTC [Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
pipeline].”

Speaking next was the sustainable development director of BP, Martin
Miles, who said the oil reserves of the Caspian are comparable with
those discovered in the North Sea. He said BP is the company that
operates transparently and respects human rights.

BP accused of discriminating against local staff

Then the floor was taken by a member of the Turkish parliament, Emin
Bilgic. “Mr Miles, you have spoken at length about transparency in
your work and respect for human rights. Then could you please say what
the difference is in the wages that BP pays to Azerbaijani and British
citizens for the same work? And what is BP’s revenue from the
production of Azerbaijani oil?”

Miles shied away from the question. “I would not like to discuss the
salary issue here,” he said. A few minutes later, a member of the
Azerbaijani parliament, Alimammad Nuriyev, said: “You haven’t answered
my Turkish colleague’s questions. Do you acknowledge that even though
there are many highly-qualified specialists in Azerbaijan, you prefer
to bring your specialists from abroad? Why? Why do you spend much
less money on environmental activities here than elsewhere?” Miles
said 80 per cent of BP’s 2,000-strong personnel in Azerbaijan are
local citizens.

“As for the difference in their salaries, I don’t think it is right to
disclose figures here,” he repeated.

And then the deputy speaker of the Azerbaijani parliament, Ziyafat
Asgarov, asked Miles directly: “But where can the salary question be
discussed then? You are using the resources of our country and the
rights of our citizens have to be taken into account. I constantly
receive complaints about violations of the labour legislation by BP,
people are made to work on holidays and days-off. We have tried to
look into the salary issue in parliament, but BP is not answering even
the legislature.”

The BP representative found nothing better to say than: “I don’t know
the details of the issue,” to which Asgarov replied: “Then you should
have told us from the very beginning that you are not competent enough
in the issue.”