Azerbaijan presents new system for assessing agricultural loans

By Trend

A new system for assessing agricultural loans named AzALES has been submitted to all credit organizations in Azerbaijan and will be tested within 15 days, as stated by the chairman of the Agency for Agricultural Credits and Development Mirza Aliyev, Trend reports from the presentation of the new system.

According to him, the system will allow banks to better assess risks in the agricultural sector, as well as quickly consider applications for loans.

The agency chairman stated that credit organizations (mainly their regional branches) do not have a sufficient number of qualified employees in the field of credit risk assessment. Due to this, credit organizations are unwilling to take risks.

"As a result, farmers' applications are rejected or the process of issuing loans is delayed. At the same time, credit organizations require real estate as collateral, the cost of which far exceeds the amount of the loan," Aliyev said.

The agency also offers a new mechanism for working with loan applications.

"We will be able to track the reasons for the rejection of farmers’ applications to credit organizations. As such, AzALES will be managed by the agency and will be available for the entire financial sector of the country," Aliyev said, stressing that approximately $200,000 have been spent on creating the AzALES system.