Media Review July 11, 2019

The Baku meeting of the commanders of Russia and NATO, the rise in price of tomatoes, and the disinterest of banks in domestic investments are the topics of today's media.

The Azerbaijan newspaper writes about the next meeting in Baku of the commanders of the Russian Federation and NATO. These meetings have been held in Baku since 2017. Such meetings, the author writes, can prevent a potential military clash, and also serve to build confidence. The author emphasizes that the meetings in Baku at this level are the result of the successful foreign policy of President Ilham Aliyev, who has been cooperating with NATO and the Russian Federation for 16 years.

The head of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff Valery Gerasimov and the commander-in-chief of NATO allied forces in Europe Todd Walters met in Baku yesterday.

The website Yeni Sabah.az writes that the price of tomatoes in Azerbaijan has jumped sharply. If earlier 1 kg of tomatoes cost 80 gyapik, now in some places the price reaches 2 manat. One of the main reasons is unstable weather, sudden changes in air temperature - all this creates serious risks for agriculture. Usually every year greenhouses stopped working in the second decade of June and vegetables continue to grow in the open air. This year is not the case. To ripen tomatoes requires a temperature of 25-26 degrees Celsius. This year it happened with a delay of about 15 days, the expert notes.

The newspaper Yeni Musavat writes about high interest rates on loans and the lack of interest of banks in lending. The Azerbaijani economy needs to invest more than ever, but capital flows from the country abroad. In addition, the interests of business loans are high and reach 30%. According to the expert, the main problem of banks in Azerbaijan is short-term loans and high interests. The last factor makes senseless business creation on lending. In all countries of the world, there is a connection between the discount rate of central banks and interest rates, in Azerbaijan this is not the case. When the discount rate was 3%, the interest on the loan was 20-30%, and now the discount rate is at 9%, and the interest on loans remains the same 20-30% .- 0-