Balance of NFES

The balance for the first half year of the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support (NFES) under the Ministry of Economy and Industry of Azerbaijan has been published. According to official figures, 65.6% of the total volume of concessional lending was granted to the production and processing of agricultural products. The financing of 2,910 projects in the agribusiness segment from January to June was allocated 63.73 million manat, of which 63.67 million occurred in the production chain. The implementation of two projects in the field of processing was allocated 56 thousand manat.

For six months the Fund financed 57 projects in the field of production and processing of various industrial products totaling 13.3 million manat (13.7% of total). The infrastructure services sector was invested 19.99 million manat (20.6%).

Almost all (99%) projects were in small business in the amount of 32.83 million manat, but the money is only one-third (33.9%) of total amount. Ten medium loans (0.3%) were 2.07 million manat (2.1%), but at 21 large credits 62.11 million manat was allocated (64%).

Since the beginning of the year more than 3.1 thousand entrepreneurs were allocated more than 111 million manat. This year, NFES will allocate from the state budget 100 million manat. The Fund intends to issue an additional 130 million manat by returning previously allocated loans.

By the end of the year the volume of money accumulated in the Fund will reach 1 billion 747 million manat (931 million manat - at the expense of the state budget, 816.3 million manat - due to the return of loans granted).

NFES was established in 1992. Issuance of loans to entrepreneurs is arranged through authorized banks and non-bank credit organizations, whose overall number is 45. In 2014, NFES allocated 295 million manat to entrepreneurs. --17D-