Baku, Azerbaijan, March 6

By Ilkin Shafiyev – Trend:

Azerbaijan’s Azer Turk Bank plans to increase the loan portfolio on projects of the Center for Simplified Support to Family Businesses (ABAD) up to 2-3 million manats until the end of 2018, Chairman of the bank’s Executive Board Orkhan Huseynov told Trend March 6.

The National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support, ABAD and Azer Turk Bank signed a protocol of intent on cooperation on March 6.

According to the document, the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support of Azerbaijan will support through soft loans the investment projects of small businesses that work with ABAD.

Azer Turk Bank, for its part, will act as an authorized bank through which these loans are provided to entrepreneurs. The annual interest rate on soft loans, which entrepreneurs receive, is 4 percent.

“We have registered 12 applications so far on loans with a total volume of 150,000 manats. Most of them vary within the range of 10-15,000 manats. We intend to monitor the pace of registration of new entrepreneurs in ABAD. According to statistics, it is planned to attract about 150-200 families until the end of the year,” Huseynov noted.

The Center for Simplified Support to Family Businesses (ABAD) was established by the decree of the Azerbaijani president, dated Sept. 23, 2016.

ABAD provides comprehensive support to families at all stages of the business, from branding and registration of the enterprise and ending with the access of products to the markets.

Seventy-five percent of shares of Azer Turk Bank, which has been operating since 1995, is owned by the Azerbaijani state.