SOCAR celebrates 100th anniversary of oil industry archive with exhibition and keynote speeches

SOCAR organized an event to mark the 100th anniversary of the oil industry archive, Azernews reports, citing the company.

The event was attended by representatives from the archive departments of state structures, SOCAR executives, and the implementation control and clerical departments of SOCAR group enterprises, as well as those responsible for archival work.

First, participants of the event visited the exhibition titled “Heydar Aliyev and Oil Strategy” and a display featuring retro archive documents. The exhibition showcased the originals of important documents, including the “Contract of the Century,” prepared and signed under the initiative of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, as well as agreements related to the exploration, development, and oil production sharing of the Shah Deniz and Absheron offshore fields, among other historical documents.

The event began with the playing of the National Anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan, followed by a minute of silence to honor the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the territorial integrity of our country.

The event featured speeches from Hafiz Zeynalov, Head of SOCAR Administration; Hasan Hasanov, Deputy Head of the National Archives of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Elmira Alakbarova, Director of the Archive of Socio-Political Documents of the Presidential Administration of the Republic of Azerbaijan; and Agali Huseynov, Head of the SOCAR Central Archive.

The speeches highlighted the significant role of the energy policy defined by Great Leader Heydar Aliyev in the comprehensive development of our country. It was emphasized that the archives have always been highly valued in strengthening our statehood, with the Decree "On the Improvement of Archival Work in the Republic of Azerbaijan" issued by the Great Leader on December 2, 2002, establishing a framework for renewing the material and technical support of archives.

The discussions also focused on the organization of archival work in the country based on modern technologies, supported by the high attention given by President Ilham Aliyev. The successful achievements in this area were noted. The importance of state-supported measures to organize archival work was also acknowledged.

Furthermore, the event provided information about SOCAR's efforts in digitization, document protection, and archival security. It was highlighted that, in addition to SOCAR’s Head Office, relevant measures had been implemented at the enterprise level to improve and develop archival activities comprehensively.

As part of the event, video clips titled "Documents of Oil History" and "History Preserved for Future Generations" were shown. These clips reflected the digitization of documents with modern technology at SOCAR's Central Archive, as well as efforts to ensure the safe preservation of these documents.