○ 12.1% involved with labor ○ Total labor force is 4.961 million ● There is a signed Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement ○ Signed 30OCT2013 ○ Bilateral agreement ● Access to local vendor bases within Azerbaijan may be difficult to non-existent ● Contracted services include port operations (stevedore and security), airfield operations (air traffic control, cargo handling and storage, and passenger processing), and general unskilled labor ○ Port of Baku has: ■ 13 container cranes (11 operational) ■ 5 wharf cranes ■ The port has limited MHE; however, cranes, tractors, trailers and any other MHE can be leased as needed ● 14/16 portable Jib cranes [20-40 STON] ● 1 floating crane (used by oil companies) [25 STON] ● 2 Reach Stackers [50 STON] ● 2 portable ramps ● 6 tugs ■ There is no Stevedoring & Related Terminal Services contract in place. The Main Cargo Terminal is operated by Baku Port Authority, which would acquire any services or equipment necessary. The port normally operates in daylight hours only. ■ Stevedoring Company can contract any equipment needed for operations ■ Port gates were secured by port personnel. No cameras and personnel screenings were informal ■ No fire or medical services on-site ○ None of the berths at Baku are considered useful for U.S. military vessels other than Logistics Support Vessel (LSV), Landing Craft Utility (LCU) or Landing Craft Mechanized, (LCM) due to vessel draft restrictions. Additionally, the limited access to the Caspian Sea via the Volga-Don Canal, Russia prohibits deep draft vessels from transiting the canal. LSV’s, LCU’s, and LCM’s could transit the Canal; however, this would not be timely or economically feasible. This transit would also require permission from Russia. Military equipment or containerized cargo would use the Caspian Sea vessels available by contract for shipment just as current OEF cargo is moved from Poti, Georgia to Baku, Azerbaijan and onward east ● The constitution provides for the right to form labor unions ○ In practice this right is limited and unions are generally not effective in wage negotiations ○ Collective bargaining is at a rudimentary level; wages are still set by government ministries for organizations within the budget ○ Most major industries are state-owned and the government runs the largest industrial and white-collar unions ● Rampant corruption in state and private sectors ○ Foreign investment is focused on energy sector and non-energy sectors are neglected ● Conversion from command economy of Soviet-era to market economy of today has created challenges for private sector services ○ Long-term contracts may be impossible for private companies to maintain ● Energy sector is highly developed by the state; telecommunications are being developed by private sector ○ Both are possible supply and services that can be contracted ○ State subsidies have created poor electricity infrastructure ■ Electricity rationing occurs during peak hours of winter months ○ Pervasive public and private sector corruption and structural economic inefficiencies remain a drag on long-term growth, particularly in non- energy sectors ● Telephones ○ General assessment: requires considerable expansion and modernization; fixed-line telephone and a broad range of other telecom services are controlled by a state-owned telecommunications monopoly and growth has been stagnant; more competition exists in the mobile-cellular market with four providers in 2009 ○ Domestic: teledensity of 17 fixed lines per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity has increased and now exceeds 100 telephones per 100 persons; satellite service connects Baku to a modern switch in its exclave of Naxcivan (Nakhichevan) ● Water ○ Due to infrastructure problems, water shortages occur often; even around Baku ○ Chlorinated tap water is not safe to drink ○ Bottled water may be necessary ● Host Nation Support ○ Language requirements will be met through contracted support from the civilian labor pool ○ Acquisition of equipment will be done through the American Embassy. Equipment leased for long duration will be limited to material handling equipment necessary for operating the SPODs and APODs ○ Petroleum, oils, and lubricant (POL) support is limited to equipment owned and operated by local nationals who are in direct support of JTF Caspian ○ The hiring of local unemployed workers as civilian labor, as available and as cleared for access through biometrics or other standard processes ○ Contracted use of rail cars and locomotives for non-combat supplies and equipment, based on availability of commercial equipment