OREANDA-NEWS. April 2, 2009. This year AGBank plans to raise foreign financing in an active way.

AGBank Chairman of the Supervisoary Board Chingiz Asadullayev said this year the Bank intends to raise around USD 30-35 million of foreign borrowings.

“Today we signed agreement on two credit lines in the total amount of USD 10 million with the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). It is planned to raise funds from several more sources, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC). In our opinion, the crisis is to make the country’s banks move more actively and we do not understand why many of them are refusing from restructuring the foreign raising limiting themselves only by raising resources at the local market,” Asadullayev said.

An agreement on two credit lines in the total amount of USD 10 million has been signed in Baku today between Azerbaijan’s AGBank Supervisory Board chairperson Chingiz Asadullayev and Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish, the general director of OPEC Fund (OFID). In accordance with the agreement there will be raised two loans by USD 5 million each for small- and medium-size business and trade financing.

The finances were raised for five-year period. The credit line for small and medium-size enterprises will allow us disbursal of loans for projects in this sector with cost up to \\$700,000 without restriction on industries. Usually when financing such projects we give preference to projects of production purpose as they are aimed at creating of jobs. Within the credit line we don’t rule out financing for agricultural sector.

Rates on the raised loans are not published.