Independent Azerbaijan and the "Contrast of the century" is a triumph of Heydar Aliyev’ s intellect

Abstract

Heydar Aliyev's exceptional contribution to preserving independence of Azerbaijan Republic, securing nation-building, preparing and implementation of oil strategy are not only known to every Azerbaijani, but also to foreign experts engaged in the preparation of "Contract of the Century" and heads of great countries which they represented.

In a times when legal status of Caspian Sea had not been determined yet, for a country in the third year of independence, with 20 percent occupied territories, in condition of political and economic instability  it was really risky to deliver carbohidrogen reserves to world market through significant investments.

While hesitating to sign the agreement by great countries, Heydar Aliyev skillfully using political climate in the world of that time, partially securing interests of the states trying to prevent the signing of this agreement, through his political will and deep logic, achieved signing “Contract of the Century” for developing Azeri, Chirag and Guneshli fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. "Contract of the Century", the biggest project of that time was signed in Baku on September 20, 1994. Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline with annual throughput capacity of 50 million tons has been serving to Azerbaijan people and meeting some portion of world oil requirments more than ten years.

This project, thanks to Heydar Aliyev's wise political steps as a guarantor of protection of the independence of Azerbaijan, had paramount importance in establishing country economy and its development in accordance with world market relations, ensuring rapid integration of Azerbaijan into world community

Today, Azerbaijan has been implementing activities related to delivery of natural gas developed in “Shahdeniz-2” field to European market due to implementation of South Caucasus Pipeline Expansion Project, the second phase of oil strategy founded by Heydar Aliyev.