Azerbaijan Country Profile

Land Administration

Individual Corruption

According to Transparency International's Global Corruption Barometer 2009, land administration is perceived by Azerbaijani to be a corrupt institution. A large majority of the respondents of the survey assesses the problem of bribes being paid to land authorities in Azerbaijan as 'very serious'.

Business Corruption

Global Integrity 2008 reports that up to 40% of transactions in relation to real estate ownership certificates occur via 'unofficial payments'.

Political Corruption

In April 2007, the Serious Crimes Court sentenced former Health Minister Ali Insanow to 11 years in prison and confiscated of USD 17 million worth of his property after convicting him of embezzling large amounts of state property and abusing authority.

The Heritage Foundation 2010 reports that the amendments to the Civil Code adopted in 2007, that enable the authorities to forcibly purchase property, are likely to create additional opportunities for the abuse of property rights in Azerbaijan.

Frequency

The World Bank & IFC: Doing Business 2010:
- 4 procedures taking an average of 11 days (nearly three times less than the OECD average) and a cost of 0.3% of the property value are required to register property in Azerbaijan.

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010:
- Business leaders give protection of property rights a score of 4.2 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'very weak' and 7 'very strong').

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2009:
- 49% of the households surveyed reported to have paid a bribe to land services in 2008.

- 40% of households consider grand or political corruption in land matters to be a 'very serious problem'.

- 43% of respondents consider bribes to land authorities to obtain favorable decisions a 'very serious problem' in Azerbaijan.

Global Integrity: Azerbaijan Country Report 2008:
- A property certificate from the State Real Estate Register Agency can be purchased for a USD 123 bribe.

- The standard bribe for permission to build a one-entrance, multi-story apartment building in Baku is USD 150,000.