Baku, Azerbaijan, July 30
By Zulfiyya Gurbanova - Trend:
Azerbaijani "NIKOIL BANK" with Russian capital has no plans to expand the range of Islamic products, the bank told Trend on July 30.
The assets of the only company rendering the services in "Halal banking" are 225,000 manat, which is equal to 0.072 percent of the total volume of the bank's assets as of July 1, 2014, according to the statement.
Currently, the bank delivers a deposit product that meets the requirements of Sharia - Wadiah.
Wadiah is an account. Its funds are not used in the interest operations of the bank and all credit and debit transactions are free. A minimum deposit amount for this product with MasterCard Standard card is 100 manat, MasterCard Gold card - 100,000 manat. The deposit term is 12 months.
The fees for plastic card transactions as part of this product are deducted based on a fixed amount, rather than interest.
The bank started rendering banking services according to Sharia in May 2011. The research conducted by the bank showed that there is a category of clients waiting introduction of Islamic banking in Azerbaijan. A legal base is required for the full development of Islamic banking products in Azerbaijan. This is necessary for the clients to get competitive conditions and freedom of choice between traditional and Islamic banking, NIKOIL BANK said earlier.
NIKOIL Bank has been operating in Azerbaijan since 1997 when "Azerbaijan Investment Company NIKOIL" CJSC was established. NIKOIL became a shareholder of "Ulpar" since 1998. Topaz Investments company bought a controlling stake in NIKOIL in 2008. Topaz Investments became a shareholder. Until recently, the shares in the NIKOIL BANK shareholders were distributed as follows: "Topaz Investments" - 56.38 percent, "NIKOIL" - 33.57 percent, "Uralsib-Invest" - 9.05 percent, "ISR Holding" - 1 percent.
The official exchange rate is 0.7842 AZN/USD on July 30.