Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 28
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
The delegation of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has arrived in Baku to discuss the package of support to the private sector of Azerbaijan, head of the EBRD local office Neal McCain told Trend Jan. 28.
"A part of the delegation headed by EBRD Regional Director for Caucasus, Moldova and Belarus, Bruno Balvanera, has already arrived in Baku, the rest will come in the afternoon," he said.
The delegation will hold meetings in the Central Bank of Azerbaijan and the SOFAZ (State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan) Jan. 28, and in the country's ministries of finance and economy Jan. 29, according to McCain.
McCain said that the talks are at an early stage, so it is premature to speak about volumes of support and other details.
At the same time, he noted that the peculiarity of the EBRD's work differs from the work of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in the sense that the EBRD doesn't support the state budget but works with the private sector.
Therefore, any support provided by the bank is aimed at the private sector, he said.
The government of Azerbaijan has requested $3 billion from the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and $1 billion from the WB (World Bank) within the framework of the program to support economic reforms in the country, a source in the country's government told Trend Jan. 28.
"Credit resources can be presented as to finance investment projects and to support the state budget and reforms," the World Bank's local office told Trend. "Cooperation format can be different."
Throughout the cooperation with Azerbaijan, EBRD has allocated 2.5 billion euros to the country for implementation of around 159 projects.
One of the main tasks of EBRD is to ensure a stable development of Azerbaijan's non-oil sector by investing in the small and medium-sized private enterprises.
Azerbaijan is the largest recipient of EBRD funds in the Caucasus, as well as one of the largest recipients of this organization's funds in the CIS and Eastern Europe.