Azerbaijan, Baku, July 4 / Trend, I.Khalilova /
JSC "Texnika Bank" appealed to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) to obtain a license to open its first representative office abroad, the bank's CEO Samir Huseynov told Trend.
"Under the bank's new strategic plan, until 2015 we plan to open the first representative office in Istanbul, given the close relationship between Turkey and Azerbaijan, as well as a great volume of trade turnover between the countries," Huseynov said.
Texnika Bank will be the first among Azerbaijani banks on the Turkish market. Despite plans announced by other banks to open subdivisions in this country, Texnika Bank was the only one able to enter Turkey's market.
Opening a Texnika Bank representative office in Turkey, according to Huseynov, will enable establishing close cooperation with the Turkish banks. Additional opportunities will appear in expanding trade financing.
"We are also ready to assist both the Azerbaijani and Turkish companies that want to invest in Turkish and Azerbaijani markets, and offer them our banking products," Huseynov said.
The bank has plans to enter the banking markets of two other countries - Russia and the UAE.
"We plan to open offices in Moscow and Dubai, but the terms of realizing such plans have yet to be clarified," Huseynov said.
Texnika Bank will be fourth in receiving international representation, after the International Bank of Azerbaijan, Caucasus Development Bank and Zamin Bank.
Texnika Bank has been operating on the banking market since 1993; until 2007 it was an entirely Azerbaijani bank. Today, the major shareholder is the company World Wines, which owns 75 percent of the shares. The Chairman of the bank's Supervisory Board Etibar Aliyev controls 15 percent of the shares and the U.S. company Kazimir Investment Caspian Fund owns a 10 percent share.