Speaking of Azerbaijan as a pioneer country that had joined the Initiative – first announced by UK Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair – UK ambassador, Mr Laurie Bristow said of major achievements of the country in this field of activity. Appreciating the functioning of the EITI Coalition of NGOs as one of the success stories of Azerbaijan, the ambassador announced that the corresponding co-operation would be successfully carried out with civil society institutions. Mr Bristow said that the Government of Azerbaijan – together with companies and NGOs – has played a key role in transforming the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative into a global programme.

Mr Anita Utseth, Norway's deputy minister for oil and energy, noted that her country supported EITI, and highlighted the focal importance of the measures which were implemented in Azerbaijan in this field of activity.

Also during the first half of the session, different reports were delivered on the topic EITI: Lessons Learnt/Next Steps.

Mr Shahmar Movsumov, the executive director of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAR) and the chairman of the State Commission on EITI, provided in-depth information about the policies and activities which the Government of Azerbaijan had conducted in the framework of the Initiative so far. Mr Movsumov accentuated the effective co-operation which was established and moved ahead with the involvement of the EITI Coalition of NGOs, and local and foreign oil companies.

Also, information was provided on the reports of local and foreign companies on EITI. Furthermore addressing the session on this topic were Mr Suleyman Qasimov, vice president for economic affairs at SOCAR, Mr Sverre Olden Mala, manager for government and public affairs at Statoil, and Ms Clare Bebbington, BP Azerbaijan vice president for communications and external relations.

Making a comprehensive presentation was Mr Sabit Baghirov, a member of the Board of the EITI Coalition of NGOs in Azerbaijan. Mr Baghirov said that the Coalition was established with the involvement of 32 civil society institutions and individual members, while that number rose to 107 in three years. The Coalition pursues four major objectives: civilian oversight of oil revenues, public awareness of this topic, development of civil society, and representation of the civil society in EITI. Stating the stance of the Coalition on EITI, Mr Baghirov noted that "despite EITI's coverage of a majority of items, on the other hand, some types of revenues are left beyond the framework of the Initiative," thereby making it possible for the "EITI to answer only a part of the questions which can be of interest for the public." Mr Baghirov forwarded four major proposals concerning oil revenues: necessity to adopt a new law on the management of oil revenues; necessity to have a civil society representative at the Supervisory Board of the Oil Fund (SOFAR); necessity to expand the coverage of EITI reporting templates; necessity to set up an accountability system for oil revenue expenditures.

Addressing the latter half of the session EITI: Regional Perspectives were Mr Jonas Moberg, the head of EITI Secretariat, Mr David Narmania from the Georgian NGO Coalition Transparency of Public Finance, Ms Anara

Dautalieva, a representative from EITI Kyrgyzstan, and Mr Malik Issabekov, a representative from EITI Kazakhstan. Noting the results of the work in this field of activity in their countries, the reporters also referred to the corresponding crucial successes of Azerbaijan and highlighted the progress of the EITI Coalition of NGOs in making the statement on the official reports on the implementation of EITI.

Despite it was the 14th Caspian International Oil & Gas Conference, hosted in Baku, for the first time there were held consultations on EITI topics.