Azerbaijan, Baku, July 20 /Trend A.Akhundov/
Non-bank credit institution FINCA Azerbaijan hopes to complete the process of converting to a bank within a year, CEO of FINCA Azerbaijan Manish Sane told journalists on Friday.
He noted that a credit institution is negotiating with the Central Bank of Azerbaijan.
"At present customer base exceeds 129,000 people, and it means that our company is indirectly linked to 600-700 thousand people," Sane said. "It provides a basis for plans to convert the bank."
He added that FINCA Azerbaijan is interested in the participation of such international financial organizations as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), International Finance Corporation (IFC) in the capital of the future bank.
"These structures are already involved in the capital of FINCA holding, and we hope that will continue to cooperate with these financial institutions after the conversion to a bank," Sane said.
He noted that at present the credit institution borrow from the EBRD, IFC and private equity funds.
FINCA Azerbaijan has 30 branches and 36 sub-branches which provide customers with financial products and services, including rural loan groups, solidarity loan groups, individual express loans and loans for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as individual agricultural loans.
The FINCA Azerbaijan non-bank credit organisation is a subsidiary of the microfinance holding FINCA, managed by FINCA International Inc., which operates in 22 countries around the world and creates a global network of partner experience.
FINCA microfinance holding's mission is to assist low income entrepreneurs in creating the assets required for raising living standards. It is supported by funding from the distributed socially responsible investments of the partnership funds.