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capacity of national NGOs will develop and
participation of the national NGOs in the program
will increase. In the long run, the operation will be
localized and the cost of the contracts will
decrease to the benefit of BP.
The NGO monitoring, which was the first in
the Azerbaijan oil sector, benefited all the
participants, but mostly the individuals who
attended the process. It was learning and capacity
building process because of the training received
by them and their capacity will be transferred to
new participants of similar processes in future. In
addition, the communication barriers that existed
between BP and the local NGOs are partially
removed.
The impact of the program on the local
governments has been different depending on the
location and country. Since their independence,
the Azerbaijani Government is working to develop
the structure of its operation and the local agencies
do not have resources to implement the required
services. For this reason, the contribution of BTC
was mostly welcomed. On the other hand, the
local Turkish Government agencies in the cities
have more presence, authority and also human and
financial
resources.
Although
there
are
improvements regarding the partnership, the
future social investment program success depends
on better communication with local government
agencies.
The universities in both countries are affected
positively. A good example in Azerbaijan is the
department of archaeology which is enriched with
new findings after fifty years of inactivity. Media
is another active stakeholder of the BTC.
International press regularly visit the region. The
UK press has also close relations with the Baku
Ceyhan campaign. Local media reflects the
general attitude of the cities regarding the project.
Lastly, there has been economic and social
impact of the CIP program on the communities
living along the pipeline. Before the construction
started, many groups and organizations including,
BTC Co., consulting companies, researchers, anti
BTC groups and agencies flew to the region to
talk to them. This unexpected interest in their life
styles and land created high expectation of the
communities. Then, their lives were affected by
the construction activities, sometime positively,
sometime negatively. Jobs were created, local
business benefited from increased activities but
the roads were damaged, the landscape changed.
At the same time, the development partners
arrived and asked them what they wanted for their
community. In addition, many monitoring groups
came and asked them how satisfied they were with
the pipeline activities. The impact of this varies
from village to village and from project to project,
but they were all granted at least one request.
Conclusion
BP’s historic priorities on economic success
and technical achievements are challenged by new
social and environmental commitments and respon-
sibilities to provide sustainable development to the
three countries along the BTC pipeline. Social
investment can be a good business for their
operations because it improves the operational
environment for BP, increases the capacity of the
partners and also helps improve reputation. BP has
a long term commitment in the region and the
relationship with the stakeholders will conse-
quently be continuous in future. There is evidence
that social initiatives are being integrated into
BP’s strategic thinking and they have made efforts
to become more effective in the interaction with
BTC pipeline stakeholders. On the other hand, a
balance is needed for RSDP to deliver sustainable
projects with lasting benefits without creating a
high dependency and confusion over government
programs.
RSDP covered the three components of sus-
tainability. CIP along the BTC pipeline covered
more than four hundred communities in three
countries with different economic, social and
political characteristics. As a result of these diffe-
rences, the program became highly diversified in
terms of partners, resources and results. However,
it had a focused strategy and brand identity which
differentiates itself from charitable donations or
brand enhancement activities. BP management
wanted to make sure that the money was well
spent. Considering the range of initiatives
invested, it is difficult to judge and it is not the
objective of this paper. Although, there is no
universal agreement to define sustainable
development, the assessment and measurement of
the effectiveness of this investment is open to
further investigation. In addition, the Georgian
part of the program is open for research to
understand its content and impact on the
stakeholder to develop a framework for the BTC
pipeline.
“We (BTC Co) do not want to subsidize the
governments… We (BTC Co) are good
Corporate Citizens”
5
During the interviews, BP officials repeatedly
stated that they do not want to play the role of the
5
From Field Notes, BTC Co., Ankara, Turkey
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