Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 18
By Azad Hasanli - Trend:
"Joint Leasing" company is considering the opportunity of attracting additional resources as part of the Islamic leasing project. It was launched in January 2014, director general of the company Elchin Ahmadov told Trend on Sept. 16.
"The initial portfolio of the project was 4 million AZN," he said. "This was the first tranche, which was used within a short period of time. At present, there is an opportunity to attract additional funds."
He stressed that in principle, leasing is a tool of Islamic finance. Ijara [an analogue of traditional leasing] is among the tools used in Islamic finance.
"Perhaps, new tools will be introduced in the future," he said. "Currently, we do not negotiate on this issue."
At present, one of Joint Leasing financing sources is International Bank of Azerbaijan, which is a co-founder of the leasing company.
"Despite the financial strength of our founder, the company draws funds from other sources to diversify its borrowed portfolio," he said. "Last year we raised a loan worth $3 million. We are also working on export financing schemes. Today most countries have the schemes to encourage exports of any country. Last year we actively worked with Korea in this direction, attracted funds to purchase Japanese equipment. At present, we are holding the negotiations with a number of financial institutions."
The company's active leasing portfolio increased by 12-13 percent compared to the same period of last year. As of September 1, 2014, it hit 36 million manat.
Joint Leasing Company began functioning since June 14, 2007 as a legal successor of Azerilizing Company. The founders are the British Dolphin Leasing company (52.3 percent) and the International Bank of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani first leasing company - Azerlizing joint venture was established in 1999.
The official exchange rate is 0.7843 AZN/USD on Sept. 18.