Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24
Trend:
The meeting with foreign creditors of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) in London was highly constructive, Abbas Ibrahimov, first deputy chairman of IBA’s Management Board, told reporters in Baku.
According to him, a restructuring plan envisaging the classification on three categories was presented to creditors during the meeting. The restructuring of foreign liabilities will be carried out in line with the plan.
Ibrahimov noted that one of main expectations in the coming days, based on the experience of foreign banks that have undergone a similar process, is a review of the bank’s ratings by international rating agencies.
“It is possible that international rating agencies will temporarily lower the ratings of the bank. It is assumed that this will happen in the coming days. However, this does not mean the worsening of situation in the bank. As we noted earlier, this approach by agencies is traditional. This decision in the restructuring process reflects agencies’ standards and normal practice. The ratings of the bank in the process of restructuring, as a rule, are temporarily reduced and at the end of the process, they rise again,” he said.
According to him, the restructuring process will strengthen the financial positions of the IBA and the bank’s ratings will be even higher than before.
The Azerbaijani government continues to provide its support to the bank, noted Ibrahimov.
“The announcement of a restructuring plan is also a significant step for the bank’s future operations. This plan is a roadmap for our creditors, who, cooperating with us can be assured of stable development, sustainability and success of the IBA. We are absolutely sure of the successful completion of the restructuring process. After the completion of this process, the International Bank of Azerbaijan will further strengthen its financial positions,” added the first deputy chairman.
The International Bank of Azerbaijan has been operating since 1992 and is one of the country’s two state-owned banks.