Media Review November 7, 2018

President Ilham Aliyev"s trip to the Karabakh region, the situation of banks, and Azerbaijani projects that fell under sanctions are the leading topics of today's media.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the trip of President Ilham Aliyev to the frontline zone - the Agdam district. The essence of the trip was voiced at a meeting of the head of state with carpet makers of Karabakh.

The Mugam Center was opened in Aghdam, and a carpet weaving factory and a horse breeding center will be opened.

"We will glorify Agdam all over the world," said Ilham Aliyev, speaking to local residents.

The Bakupost.az website writes about the situation of banks, noting that at least 4-5 banks are on the verge of closure.

Expert Akram Hasanov evaluates reports published by banks for Q3, calling this fact positive. Two years ago, banks practically did not publish their reports. This, the expert believes, increases transparency.

At the same time, some of the reports are untrue, since the data are overstated, and this is mainly due to problem loans.

The newspaper Yeni Musavat writes about the US sanctions against Iran that began on November 5 and their impact on Azerbaijan. The current sanctions against Iran will have devastating consequences and affect Azerbaijan"s cooperation with Iran.

However, there are projects that remained outside the anti-Iran sanctions: the development of the Shah Deniz fields, and projects that ensure the energy security and independence of Turkey and the countries of Europe.

As for the purchase of gas from Iran, Azerbaijan currently buys gas from Turkmenistan, and Iran is used as transit. Transit operations are not subject to sanctions. Problems may arise in the joint Azerbaijani-Iranian project of the Resht-Astara railway; in this connection Azerbaijan has allocated a loan of $ 500 million to Iran.