Azerbaijan International Bank’s foreign debts to be passed to the state - UPDATED

Azerbaijan International Bank’s foreign debts to be passed to the state - <span style="color: red;">UPDATED
# 11 May 2017 21:18 (UTC +04:00)

Fulfillment of involved obligations from the foreign creditors in foreign currency is stopped until the process,the press service of the bank told APA-Economics.

Carried out consistent and targeted measures to strengthen the financial stability of the International Bank of Azerbaijan JSC in the framework of the decree on the measures for rehabilitation related to the preparations for privatizing the state-owned shares of the International Bank of Azerbaijan JSC signed by the President of Azerbaijan on July 15, 2015.

According to the report, these measures cover purchasing IBA’s troubled assets via payments of value, liquidity support and restore capital losses.

The state has already acquired toxic assets of AMB worth 9.93 billion manat, to provide liquid support in the bank placed deposits of $ 1.3 billion and 70 million manats. In addition, to facilitate the bank's capital position in January 2017, part of the deposits in the amount of AZN 600 million placed in the bank by the state were aimed at increasing the capital.

Although these measures strengthened the bank's financial and liquid position, high interest payments, the devaluation of manat against major foreign currencies, the incompleteness of the state's acquisition of toxic assets caused additional AMB losses. As a result, according to the results of 2016, according to the international financial reports, it is expected to disclose the damage of the International Bank Group (including the bank's subsidiaries) in the amount of 1.9 bn manats and damage to the Ä°BA in the amount of 1.74 billion manats.

To restore the long-term financial position and stability of the AMB, turning it into a healthy and strong financial institution supporting the country's economy, the bank's leadership, in conjunction with the Azerbaijani government, continues measures to improve the bank's financial health. The next stage of the health process is expected to be voluntary restructuring of liabilities. Within the framework of voluntary restructuring of liabilities, it is planned to directly transfer to the state debts in foreign currency, attracted from certain financial institutions in accordance with the law "On Banks".

The plan for voluntary restructuring of obligations was coordinated with the Chamber for the Control of Financial Markets in accordance with banking legislation and on May 4, 2017, the Nasimi District Court decided to start the restructuring process.


It is planned to implement the restructuring plan on the basis of the approval of at least 2/3 of foreign creditors during the planned meeting.

Before the completion of the transfer of debts to the state, the fulfillment of obligations (excluding interest payments on trade financing transactions) in foreign currency, attracted from foreign creditors, is suspended.

All other IBA obligations, including protected, unprotected, term deposits and demand deposits of Azerbaijani citizens, legal entities and other non-residents, which are stored in national and foreign currencies.


As a result of the measures taken, the IBA's currency position is resolved, the financial position will be strengthened, and the ability to generate profit will be restored. Also, the capital position of the bank will return to the regulatory framework.


"There is concern about the weakening of the financial and capital positions of Ä°BA. Restoring the financial stability of an IBA is important for the provision of financial services, which is of great importance for the economy of the republic. The current measures are an important step to ensure financial stability and these measures are fully supported by the Ministry of Finance. The Finance Ministry hopes that IBA lenders in foreign currency will support the restructuring plan. The state takes a big step for the bank and in fact, increasing the national debt, accepts the debts of the IBA. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance notes that there will be no impact from the proposed restructuring plan on the IBA's depositors and the bank will continue to provide services and carry out operations in the same form", Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov said.

The IBA recovery process is carried out under the consecutive supervision of the Financial Market Supervision Authority of Azerbaijan (FIMSA).

"The IBA restructuring plan serves to strengthen the financial position and liquidity. IBA, being the largest bank of the country in terms of financial indicators, plays an important role in making settlements and social payments, providing the population with banking services a wide range and issuing loans to entrepreneurs. Therefore, we positively perceive the efforts of the Ministry of Finance to stabilize the bank's financial position and ensure sustainability. We believe that this step is important not only for the bank, but, in general, for the entire banking sector of Azerbaijan. The restructuring plan will not affect IBA obligations to local legal entities and individuals. The FIMSA will ensure that the rights of creditors and depositors of the bank are not violated and that they freely use their means", said the chairman of the Board of Directors of the FIMSA Rufat Aslanli.

"As noted in the financial results of 2016, the IBA is currently in a difficult financial situation. Despite this, I believe that, with the support of our creditors, the financial stability of the IBA will be ensured in the future. I express my gratitude for the support of the Ministry of Finance and the FIMSA under the current situation of the IBA. I want to convince the IBA's corporate and individual clients that the restructuring plan will not affect them in any way. In addition, our services and operations will remain outside this process", said Khalid Ahadov, Chairman of the Board of the IBA.

As a result of all these measures, the long-term financial stability of the IBA will be ensured and on the eve of privatization the market value will grow.

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THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED