In a continuing wave of arrests related to corruption, authorities in Azerbaijan have arrested several medical officials who, the government says, took payoffs in exchange for accommodating certain COVID-19 patients with preferential treatment.

Azerbaijan increased the export of oil products by 0.7% year-on-year to 225,616 tonnes in the first quarter of 2021, the State Customs Committee said.

Azerbaijan’s leading gold mining company, Anglo Asian Mining Plc, extended its contract with the government for five years for Gedabek mine, the company said.

British oil major BP plans to undertake 15-days of maintenance work on its West Azeri oil platform.

The state-owned International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) reported a net profit of 32.4 million manats ($19.1 million) in the first quarter of 2021, 36.5 percent less than in the same period last year.

Azerbaijan’s State energy firm SOCAR plans to boost the annual capacity of its Turkey Aegean Refinery (STAR) refinery in Turkey to 11.5 million tonnes.