On January 24, 2020, the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture of the Republic of Azerbaijan held a large-scale board meeting dedicated to the results of 2019.

Opening the meeting, Chairman of the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture Anar Guliyev mentioned that the sustainable socio-economic development was ensured in our country due to the systematical and diversified reforms successfully implemented under the leadership of H.E.Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It was noted that the implementation of the state policy, which focuses on the citizens of the Republic of Azerbaijan and their interests,have contributed to the efficiency of the management, achievement of significant progress in all sectors of the economy, improving the welfare of the population and living conditions in the country. In the reporting period, as in many other sectors, major reforms were carried out in the organization of urban planning and construction activities of special socio-economic significance, as well as the implementation of important projects serving to the improvement of the housing and living conditions of the population, and the development of entrepreneurship was continued.

According to the Decree No. 226 of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan “On additional measures to improve management in the field of urban development” dated August 01, 2018, and the other orderson the planned and systemized organization of urban development processeswithin the requirements of urban legislation and the strengthening the state control in this field, the responsibility of the Committee was increased and its activities on new areas were successfully continued in 2019.Anar Guliyev especially emphasized that as a result of the educational work and arranged cooperation with construction customers carried out by the Committee's specialists during the reporting period,in terms of meeting the requirements of urban legislation and relevant norms the positive dynamics was observed in the quality of the new projects prepared and submitted to the consideration of the Committee.

The total area of the ground floors of 371 construction facilities approved by the decrees of the Committee in 2019 within the scope of its expanded competences and intended to be built based on construction permits across the country is 4.647.211m².2.520.808 m²of this area will beconsisting of apartments.

At the same time, during the reporting period, the Committee issued permits for the construction of building facilities with a total area of about 1.000.000 m²in Baku.

During the reporting period, the Committee allowed the operation of construction facilities with a total area of 10.397.148 m² in Baku, 7.154.015 m² of which are apartments.The operation permits for residential facilities with a total area of 9.532.857 m² and the area of apartments of 6.736.933 m² were issued under the Decree No. 529 of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated February 19,2019 “On simplification of the permit issues for the operation of some apartment buildings”.

The Chairman noted that this revolutionary Decree signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan taking into account the difficulties in the registration of buildings and the recognition of residents' property rights over the apartments since in the past years the construction of some apartment buildings were carried out without full compliance with the requirements of urban planning legislation, once again demonstrated that the rights and interests of the citizens of the country are above everything.According to the decree, the tasks of the number of state agencies were determined, some instructions were given to ensure the optimization of the procedure and duration of the operation permit issuance for such buildings, also to ensure transparency and citizen satisfaction in this area.

Within the frameworks of the aforementioned Decree, based on the positive feedback provided by the Ministry of Emergency Situations on the durability and safety of such buildings it will be possible to confirm the property rights of totally 74.046 families over their apartments through the issued operation permits by the Committee itself in Baku and the relevant local executive authorities in the regions of the country.

In his speech, Anar Guliyev also mentioned the workscarried out in 2019, to fulfill the tasks set by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan before the Committee towards the digitalization and simplification of the construction and operation permit procedures and making it convenient and transparent for entrepreneurs.

It was noted that according to the Decree No. 460 of the Head of State dated December 28, 2018 "On simplification the measures for the construction permit for facilities and operation permits for the building facilities", an electronic application system acting on "single window” principle was prepared and put into the use for obtaining permission for the construction and operation of the construction facilities in Baku city that do not require expertise. During the reporting period, dozens of electronic applications were processed and Permits were granted electronically by the experts of the Committee through the “single window” system, which aims to minimize the officer-entrepreneur relations preventing additional time loss, to ensure transparency and ease of use. Through the system, it is possible to obtain construction permits for the building facilities and warehouses with different parameters that do not require expertise considered in Article 89 of the Code of Urban Planning and Construction within 15 working days, and the operation permits within 10 working days. Both permits for these types of building facilities are free of charge and do not require any payment by the applicant.

Though the system was only operating in Baku at the initial stage, as a result of the improvement works carried out during the reporting period, the relevant officials of 56 local executive authorities of the country were provided the access to the system by the end of 2019, and the conditions for granting electronic permits were also provided in other cities of the country.

It was also noted that the works are underway on the improvement of the “single window” electronic system, and a few days ago the issue of the operation permits for the facilities requiring expertise was also launched in the test mode through the portal. To ensure transparency,a calculator required for thepermit paymentswas placed on the birpencere.arxkom.gov.azportal, as well as the payments required to be madeduring the permit procedures became electronic. In the future, it is planned also to grant construction permits for such facilities through the portal.

The Chairman noted that, under the initiative and direct supervision of H.E. Mr. Ilham Aliyev, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and H.E. Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva, the First Vice-president, in recent years a large-scale construction and renovation works have been carried out in the capital Baku and other cities of the country, special attention is paid to protection of the historical and architectural heritage of the nation, the city infrastructure is improved, new magnificent buildings, parks, residential complexes, business centers are put into the use.One of the main tasks set by the Head of the State before the State Committee for Urban Planning and Architecture is the planned and systemized implementation of urban planning, preparation of the main territorial planning documents following the leading world experience to ensure fruitful development of our cities in the future.

It was noted that in 2019 the comprehensive work on the preparation of the Master plan was carried out following the established timeline, according to the Development Concept of Baku prepared with the assistance of the BCG international consulting company, involved in the cooperation by the Committee in 2018.The well-known urban planning company “AS+P”, headquartered in Germany, selected as a result of the international tender, started the strategic and multi-level planning of the city territory, as well as began technical work on modeling according to key development indicators.As a result of four expanded meetings of the inter-agency Working Group established by the Committee and about 70 bilateral meetings held during the reporting period, the proposed initiatives by the international and local experts on the main principles of the future development of the city were discussed and the main approaches to urban planning of the capital were agreed upon. The completion of the draft Master plan of Baku is expected by the end of this year.

It was also noted that the process of development of the Master plans and detailed planning projects of other cities of the Republic was continued by the Committee. In 2019, the Master plans of Shamkir, Goygol, Khachmaz, Salyan, Masalli, Tovuz, Guba, and Bilasuvar cities were approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

At present, the development of Master plans of10 more cities along with Baku (Dashkasan, Shabran, Tartar, Saatli, Sabirabad, Kurdamir, Goranboy, Gadabay, Astara, and Ganja), started in 2018 and 2019 by the order of the Committee, is continued at various stages.

At the same time, detailed planning projects covering the territories of 10 more cities developed on the orders of the relevant local executive authorities (Shaki, Gakh, Aghsu, Yevlakh, Sumgayit, Agstafa, Khirdalan, Shamakhi, Mingachevir, Salyan) were analyzed and commented on in the Committee in the reporting period.

Anar Guliyev also mentioned the work carried out in combating construction projects that do not meet the requirements of urban planning legislation, and the cooperation of the Committee with relevant state bodies in this direction. It was noted that in 2019, several shortcomings were registered in compliance with the requirements of urban planning legislation on 1866 construction sites in 15 cities by the Committee on mobile and camera basis, and to eliminate them, the relevant local executive authorities were addressed with mandatory execution instructions. At the same time, for violation of the rules of conducting the State Registry of Constructions, i.e. for not submitting information on construction and operation permits to the Committee within the period established by law, in general, 255 administrative offenses were drawn up in 22 cities and regions.

Afterward, the officials of the Committee staff made presentations on the activities carried out in the relevant areas in 2019.

In the framework of the meeting, three draft technical normative legal acts prepared by the Committee were discussed and approved by the decision of the Board.