15:32 - 3.06.2025

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June 3, Fineko/abc.az.Milli Majlis MP Zahid Oruj suggested to reduce electricity and gas tariffs in border villages by 3 times to solve the problem of overpopulation in Baku.

ABC.AZ reports that the parliamentarian made such a proposal at today's session of parliament during the discussion of the Draft Law on Budget Execution for 2024.

According to the MP, this will primarily contribute to the rapid return of citizens to the border villages.

"There are 4,244 villages in our country. This is great wealth. The population density in the capital, as well as traffic jams, have become the number one problem for society, which also negatively affects the economy and public health. According to the new Baku Master Plan, in 15 years the population of the capital will be 3.17 million people. However, according to unofficial data, more than 3 million people are already living in Baku," the MP noted.

Oruj noted that only in 29 of the 63 districts of the country the population exceeds 100,000 people.

"That is, only 46% of the districts have population of more than 100,000. From 50,000 to 100,000 people live in 18 regions. Only 92 out of 4,244 villages have population exceeding 5,000 people. And there are less than 50 people living in 214 villages," he said.

The MP also stressed that in 2023, the country's population consumed 3.9 bcm of gas, while the population of Baku consumed 1.4 bcm. That is, 36% of country's natural gas consumption is in the capital. In addition, the population as a whole consumed 6.6 billion kWh of electricity during the year, while the population of Baku consumed 2.8 billion kWh, which is 42%. At the same time, the officially registered population of Baku is less than 23% of the country's population.

"We propose to cut electricity and gas tariffs 3-fold in all border districts in order to prevent the influx of people to the capital," the MP stressed.