Azerbaijan eyes to support rehabilitation of credit unions

By  Trend

Azerbaijan's State Service for Management of Agricultural Projects and Credits is planning to support rehabilitation of the country’s credit unions, Head of the State Service Mirza Aliyev said, Trend reports.

He said that approximately 80 percent of loans issued through credit unions are problem loans.

“Previously, the share of problem loans issued through credit unions reached 92 percent,” he added.

He noted that in January 2019, there are plans to hold meetings with the credit unions of Azerbaijan jointly with the Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FIMSA).

Speaking about the reasons for the large share of problem loans in credit unions, he noted that as these organizations don’t have effective mechanisms for collection of the funds issued, and there are no lawyers working in credit unions, there are such problems.

Also, Mirza Aliyev noted that credit unions don’t analyze and don’t monitor the loans issued, and this leads to the use of these funds for other purposes.

About 70 credit unions are operating in Azerbaijan. In total, credit unions bring together about 30,000 entrepreneurs.