Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. I.Khalilova / The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will hold a workshop to end the first project Development of Agriculture in mountain regions in Baku on 27 November. The expert group headed by Omar Jafarov and manager of the project, visited Baku to attend the workshop.
The project has been postponed twice already, once one and a half years ago and the second time in June 2007.
In 2006 the Fund expanded its operations to the Azerbaijani regions of Lerik, Gadabay, Shahbuz, Gabala, Guba, Ismayilli and Dashkasan.
The credit agreement with IFAD for financing was signed on 27 November 2000. The total budget for the project developed over seven years constituted $10mln including $9mln from IFAD and $1.5mln from the Government.
The total sum of resources for loans of the project made up $2.65mln and $1.5mln of the sum was allocated for micro crediting and assimilated by the non-banking credit organization Mikromaliyyelesdirme. Some AZN 250,000 for the project envisaged over a five year term was allocated by bank-agents. Nazim Sadigov, the manager of the bank, said that the Fund financed 62 projects in a total sum of AZN 445, 290.
The bank received funds from IFAD with an annual rate which corresponded to the bank's interest rate. Turanbank issued loans with annual rates from 16% to 21% depending on what was financed and the volume of the loan.
Loans for agrarian products were issued at 16%, production of agrarian products and purchase of technology - 18%, trade in agrarian products - 21%. Long-term (4-5 years) and large loans were considered individually at an interest rate of 16%.