Azerbaijan and the Nobel Prize

I was hosted to dinner by the President of Azerbaijan's state oil company, SOCAR, on the night of my arrival in Baku at the Nobel House.  This was a house which belonged to members of the Nobel family.  Alfred Nobel, who established the Nobel Prize, and his brothers made their money in Baku.

They started as suppliers of munitions to the Russian Tsar, but it was in the oil business that they made their fortune.  They built the first oil tanker in the world. The Nobel House was beautifully and lovingly restored only a few years ago.  Most people have heard of the Nobel Prize but very few are aware that it was Azerbaijan oil which made it possible.

George Yeo