BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan.10. The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB) is developing a pipeline of new projects in Azerbaijan, BSTDB President Serhat Köksal said in an exclusive interview with Trend.
“After the slowdown provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent conflict in the Black sea region, we are currently in the process of developing a pipeline of new projects. Non-oil and gas sectors continue to be our priority. We already have projects in the pipeline that we hope to be able to finalize in 2023,” he said.
Köksal pointed out that over time, BSTDB is committed to a policy of steady, prudent, high quality growth that is broad based and extended to all its Member States.
“Obviously, this very much includes Azerbaijan, in which we have been present since our Bank was created in the late 1990s. Because of the structure of the Azerbaijani economy, it has been our intention to focus primarily on non-energy related sectors of the economy, since that is where needs are greatest, and it is consistent with the objectives of the Government to diversify the economy. Over the years, we have generally found it easier to work with Azerbaijani financial institutions, either financing them directly to assist the institution directly to grow, or to act as an intermediary with the end recipients being small and medium enterprises,” noted the BSTDB president.
In terms of products, Köksal said the Bank has variously participated as investor and taken an (non-controlling, non-management involvement) equity stake in an Azerbaijani bank, has provided numerous credit lines.
“Furthermore, as you are aware, we were the first international financial institution to undertake a local currency loan in manat, thus helping to lead the introduction of this important product which contributes to greater confidence in the manat and the domestic financial market, and over time can help the domestic financial market grow more broadly and deeply,” he added.
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