BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 4. This week, Azerbaijan's Central Bank (CBA) has launched a system of securities issuance, Trend reports.
The provision of services to issuers in electronic form on the principle of a "single window" has begun in accordance with state registration and placement through the system of investment securities of the Central Bank, the National Depository Center (NDC), and the Baku Stock Exchange (BSE).
Moreover, the procedure for foreign currency sales between CBA and commercial banks has changed this week.
In addition, the president of the Pakistan-Azerbaijan Economic Cooperation Chamber (PAKAZCHAM) said that the banking procedures between Azerbaijan and Pakistan might be simplified.
According to him, the relevant negotiations between the central banks of the two countries have already been held.
Furthermore, a new chairman of the board of "Gunay Sigorta" insurance company has been appointed this week, Hikmet Salmanov, Executive Director of Gunay Bank, has been elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of the insurance company by the shareholders.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development provided "Gemza Group" LLC with a secured loan worth 5.6 million euros for the construction of three modern warehouses. The total value of the project is 19.105 million euros.
Also, this week, the predictions on the income and expenses of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) for 2023 have been named.
According to the report of the Accounts Chamber of Azerbaijan, revenues of the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) are projected to reach 8.99 billion manat ($5.28 billion), while expenditures – 11.392 billion manat ($6.7 billion) in 2023.
The forecast for the distribution of the currency investment portfolio of SOFAZ for 2023 is as follows: 65 percent of the portfolio was distributed in US dollars, 19.5 percent – in euro, five percent – in pounds sterling, and 10 percent – in Australian dollars, Turkish lira, Russian ruble, Korean won, Chinese yuan, Japanese yen, and other currencies.
In addition, this week it was noted that the funds of the newly established Caucasus Ventures are going to be directed toward the development of start-up projects in fields such as financial technology, medicine, education, "cloud technology", artificial intelligence, and so on. More than 60 percent of the fund's budget is going to be directed toward the support of Azerbaijani projects, while the rest - to the regions of East Europe and Central Asia.
The budget of the venture fund is 11.3 million manat ($6.6 million). Azerbaijan’s Innovation Agency and PASHA Holding allocated 5 million manat ($2.9 million), and individual entrepreneurs - 1.3 million manat ($760,000) to the fund's budget.