Media Review November 1, 2018

Environmental damage due to oil production, work on new proposals in the banking system, and the risks of using national currencies in bilateral trade operations are the leading topics of today's media.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the new oil projects for the development of oil fields and their impact on the environment. Discussion of the document was organized by the project operator company BP.

Conclusions will be made during November and only with their account will an investment decision be made. In September 2017, the term of the ACG project was extended.

Up to now, 8 platforms have been installed under the "contract of the century", 6 of which are mining.

The website Modern.az writes about bank interest rates, calling them predatory. It is about reducing the discount rate by the Central Bank from 10 to 9.75%. MP Ali Masimli called this reduction a positive factor.

With a inflation rate of about 3%, a gradual reduction in the discount rate can be considered positive. However, this factor does not affect bank interest, which is simply predatory.

The banking system of Azerbaijan may have a future if this system is radically changed and gets closer to the real sector, and also conscientiously solves the problem with dollar loans.

The website Moderator.az writes about the risks of the implementation of trade operations in national currency. The basis for the relevance of this topic, according to the author, is an agreement on the use of national currency in bilateral trade operations, reached at the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Iran on October 29.

The expert Rovshan Agayev believes that the risks are related to the stability of the national currency and the state of import-export operations.