Azerbaijan’s economic successes promoted building a solid platform for formation of different political, economic, business initiatives and projects. Conferences, forums and exhibitions, that the country hosts, bring together representatives of governments, companies and communities from different countries. Baku will host the First International Caspian Energy Forum - 2014 on April 23, 2014.  This event will be held under support of the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan, State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Caspian European Club. Akkord Corporation, which is contributing actively to the development of the non-oil sector, is a platinum sponsor of the First International Caspian Energy Forum – 2014 as well as lends extensive support to this event. 

“I am confident that such opportunities reveal very promising prospects for our Corporation, local companies and the country in general”, Göksel Aybek, General Director of Akkord Industry Construction Investment Corporation OJSC,  told in the interview to Caspian Energy journal on the threshold of the forum. In his interview Mr. Aybek spoke about the achievements of the company, its plans for 2014, implementation of new projects and many other  issues of interest. 

CE: Could you please tell about achievements, gained over the past year, and your perspective plans? 

Göksel Aybek, General Director, Akkord Industry Construction Investment Corporation OJSC: A number of challenging tasks, that the company managed to successfully handle through innovative methods, were assigned to Akkord Corporation in 2013. We implemented some major projects of national scale including launching the first production line of the Gazakh Cement Plant, opening of a multi-level tunnel-type road junction in the Galaba (Victory) Square in Baku and signing the contract for the construction of  a new “Khatai Hazi Aslanov-2” section of the ”green” line of the Baku Metro. These three large-scale projects have lately become milestones for Akkord Corporation. 

It is noteworthy that launching the Gazakh Cement Plant came in line with implementation of the “State Program for Social and Economic Development of the Regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2009-2013” as it plays an important role in socioeconomic development of both Gazakh region and the country as a whole. Besides satisfying domestic cement demand, the Corporation is aimed at expanding production volume and entering a regional market as a high-quality cement producer. 

In addition, in April 2013 Akkord Corporation was awarded Best Enterprise in the Field of Construction in the South Caucasus and Central Asia at the Institute of Directors by the Europe Business Assembly in London. It points to the leading positions of the company in the field of construction within the whole region. Along with it, in mid-2013 the company became a corporate affiliate member of the International Tunnelling and Underground Space Association (ITA-AITES) and World Road Association (PIARC). Akkord Corporation is the first and the only private company from the South Caucasus that joined these highly reputable organizations.

As to our plans for 2014, we will certainly continue to develop the main activities of the company through the implementation of relevant projects both commenced and prospected.

In 2014 the Corporation plans to continue participating in the tender within the TANAP and TAP projects. The internationally recognized brand that Akkord Corporation managed to form during the years enables the company to contribute to these projects, which will have profound impact on the world energy market place. 

We are striving for linking all the areas of our activity and building a sustainable business model. The size and distribution of investment reflect Akkord Corporation’s policy of vertical integration. Implementation of this policy that requires investments in all sectors we are engaged in and keen to develop will be continued this year as well.

  CE: You have mentioned about signing of the contract concerning the construction of the “green” line section of Baku Metro? How do you plan to develop this direction of the company’s activity? 

Göksel Aybek: A long-term conceptual development scheme for the Baku Metro that was prepared following the President’s decree of November 10, 2008 and the “State program for the development of the Baku Metro in 2011-2015” approved by the President’s decree of March 18, 2011, has laid the groundwork for the Baku metro’s expansion plans. As far as the Baku Metro development project is concerned, construction of metro tunnels and underground facilities is a new line of activity for Akkord Corporation. A department for metro building was created in the Corporation to promote this direction of our activity. 

Within the framework of the project aimed at fulfillment of the presidential order, Akkord Corporation established Akkord-Bouygues JV together with the French Company which is one of the largest global experts in tunneling. The contract signed on December 16, 2013, crowned our two-year joint efforts for developing the Green Line construction project.

We anticipate concluding more similar contracts in the future, as the 2030 metro development plan stipulates the construction of 50 new stations and 86km long metro lines. 

CE: 2014 has been declared a Year of Industry in Azerbaijan in accordance with President’s order as of January 10, 2014. How would you evaluate Company’s contribution to the development of the country’s industrial sector? What are the priorities when fulfilling this task?

Göksel Aybek: Being not only a construction company, but also a production and investment enterprise, nowadays Akkord Corporation continues investing heavily in production and processing of building materials. 

As a leading building materials producer and supplier, Akkord Corporation is aimed at supporting the President’s decision and will continue producing cement, concrete, reinforced concrete structures, asphalt, marble and granite, steel structures, gravel, sand, bricks and other materials not only for our own needs, but also for the wider market in Azerbaijan. It will be possible due to 40 manufacturing and processing facilities that the corporation owns and operates throughout the country. 

Availability of production capacities in the regions of the republic enables the company to contribute to the program on social-economic development of regions for 2014-2018 approved by President Ilham Aliyev. 

The Corporation also has plans to increase production of construction materials including fiber concrete at our pre-fabrication plant that will start operating in mid-2014. 

In February of this year, Akkord Corporation created an industrial group, and such entities as «Gazakh Cement Plant», «Akkord Prefabrik» (precast concrete plant), «Akkord Beton» and «Garadag Marble and Granite Plant» started operating within this group.

Investing heavily in industry and production as well as applying new technologies and know-how, Akkord Corporation is making considerable contribution to the development of the production sector of the country and will keep pursuing this strategy. 

CE: It is known that development of infrastructure both within Azerbaijan and beyond has been one of the priority activities of Akkord Corporation for the past years. What infrastructure projects can be mentioned to illustrate the company’s solid expertise in this field?

Göksel Aybek: Besides the transport node on the Galaba Square (Baku city), the Ganja Ring Road can be considered one of the largest completed projects of Akkord Corporation in Azerbaijan. The road construction was implemented as part of the national programme for development of regions. The 37.5km-long Ganja Ring Road built in part of the Baku-Alat-Gazakh highway (East-West Corridor) passing outside the city of Ganja has been commissioned by Akkord Corporation after the major overhaul and reconstruction.

Along the entire length of the four-lane highway there are four bridges, 82 water sluices of different diameters and the lighting system installed at important sections of the road. Due to the road constructed on funds of the international financial institutions, transport vehicles can move to the highway towards Gazakh without entering Ganja.       

Currently, Akkord Corporation has a very strong presence not only in Azerbaijan but also in several foreign markets, including Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Germany, Russia and Albania. Success of the Corporation’s international projects is largely based on cooperation with leading construction and engineering companies through varied forms of partnership. 

As far as international infrastructure projects are concerned, it is noteworthy to mention that just recently the Azerbaijan-Italian Akkord-Todini-Impregilo Joint Venture has won the tender to implement road construction works under the CAREC III Corridor, Shymkent-Tashkent Project in Kazakhstan. Akkord Corporation is the main stakeholder of the JV with participating interest of 50%. The project is financed by the Asian Development Bank.

Akkord Corporation has been acting as General Contractor in 2 lots in the Kyzylorda Region, Kazakhstan, under the Western Europe-Western China International Transit Corridor project since 2010. This project is financed by the international financial institutions while the Committee of Roads under the Ministry of Transport and Communication of the Republic of Kazakhstan is also the Contractor.

In total, the Corporation has implemented tens of high complexity large infrastructure projects across the Caspian-Black Sea region.

CE: Human resources are one of the important tools in reaching success for any large company. Do you plan to make any changes in the human resources development policy? 

Göksel Aybek: As one of the major employers in Azerbaijan, Akkord Corporation is contributing significantly to formation of a positive work environment and corporate culture. The Corporation finds human capital its most important asset for maintaining growth, and is making all efforts aimed at attracting, holding, promoting and motivating people employed by the Company. For the time being, more than 4,000 employees including specialists from the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Ukraine, Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Iran and Bangladesh are engaged in the company’s daily operations performed both domestically and abroad. The major goal of the Corporation is to choose efficient motivation tools and create the most favorable conditions that enable employees to perform at their best and to contribute in this way to the future of the company. We are working regularly for securing balance between business development and expectations of our employees whose contribution to common success does not pass unmarked and unappreciated. This year the Corporation has awarded for the first time hundreds of employees, who have worked for the Company for five years and longer, and intends to turn this ceremony into a good tradition.       

Nowadays, we are heavily investing in the workforce to broadly support our image of the company hiring highly skilled personnel in every country it operates. The Corporation aspires to withdraw from a common practice of working with subcontractors in the construction sector as we believe that development and training of own specialists will bear fruit in the long run when building a successful business, not only in terms of profits, but also culture.