The New Kuwait - Azerbaijan

Sep 1997
The tiny former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan is set to become the next Kuwait. Its neighbouring Caspian Sea territory has oil reserves of more than twice the North Sea total. Already $22 billion worth of contracts have been signed with Western oil companies and oil executives are flooding into the capital Baku. Azerbaijan was one of the poorer Soviet republics because the oil was inefficiently exploited and the money stayed in Moscow. Now independent and devasted by war with neighbouring Armenia, Azerbaijan is carefully playing off Russian and Western oil interests. But fears remain that ordinary people will never see the vast wealth. Azerbaijan's war refugees are already a huge social catastrophe. Forced to flee her home in the war, Badam lives in a railway carriage with her family of seven. Azerbaijan lost 20% of its area in the war with Armenia and the government refuses permanent housing to its one million homeless, determined that one day they must return home. Azerbaijan's potential riches make it a highly strategic pawn in the greedy politics of the Caspian region. It remains to be seen if it can exploit this wealth to benefit its own people.

Produced by ABC Australia
Distributed by Journeyman Pictures

Category:

News & Politics

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• Caspian
• Sea
• North
• Moscow
• conflict
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[windtamer9]

The Azeri oil money will not go to Azerbaijan. Alievs and the westerners will get it...

[TheLoyalPrince]

why in the hands of the west or russia or iran ??? why not independent ? every nation on earth, whther arabs, or turks or azeris or persians, senegelase, german or whatsoever, have the right to be free and independent !!!

[SafaGuluzadeh0]

Now Azerbaijan keeps on itself higher living than other region countries.Morever,Euro zone becoming depend on azerbaijani oil. And they wait for suitable time to takeback its land from Armenia.

[ChipsALaChocolat]

where is the film at 6:02 frm? does anybody know?

fascinating documentary. though i wonder how it's changed by now.

[SuperMassaget]

Go home. It's not your oil.

[12Aotearoa]

мда...

[ze000ez]

hundreds of Azerbaijan hookers in Dubai and Thailand and other countries , its a poor country