A 515-mile pipeline running through Azerbaijan and Georgia was opened. Pipeline construction over a two-year period cost $1.5 billion. The Azerbaijan government and three major oil corporations signed a deal worth an estimated $10 billion.
Amid charges by opposition leaders of fraud and vote-rigging, the Central Election Commission gave a victory in parliamentary elections to the ruling New Azerbaijan Party. Though widespread protests followed, Pres. Heydar Aliyev's son, Ilham, was named prime minister.
