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Auditors’ Chamber: Large int’l audit firms interested in entering Azerbaijani market

Business Materials 7 January 2011 13:20 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 7 / Trend U.Ismayilova /

Most of the world famous auditing companies, particularly the members of the top twenty, are interested in entering the audit market of Azerbaijan, adviser to the Azerbaijani Auditors' Chamber head, Najaf Talibov said on Friday.

"The interest of large international audit firms is associated with the active integration of Azerbaijan's economy into the global economy," Talibov said.

He said another driver of increased interest in the local market is the application of the system International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and International Standards on Auditing in Azerbaijan.

Talibov believes the international auditors were also attracted by the country's sovereign rating, which allows an assessment of the economy.

Standard & Poor's affirmed its long and short-term sovereign credit ratings of Azerbaijan at 'BB + / B'. The rating outlook is still "positive", while the assessment of risk transfer and convertibility remains at the level 'BBB-'.

Fitch Ratings has upgraded Azerbaijan's long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to 'BBB-' from 'BB+'. The outlooks on both ratings are stable. Fitch has also upgraded Azerbaijan's Country Ceiling to 'BBB-' from 'BB+' and upgraded its short-term foreign currency IDR to 'F3' from 'B', the agency reported.

Azerbaijan introduced the international auditing standards from Jan.1, 2010, and the transition to IFRS started since 2008.

The Azerbaijani Auditors' Chamber was established in Sept. 1995 and launched activities in April 1996. Azerbaijan adopted the law on "audit activity" in 1994. In Azerbaijan, world-known auditing firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, BDO Azerbaijan and others have been operating.

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