Media Review October 2, 2018

The problems of hostels for students, problem loans, the number of Azerbaijani tourists abroad, and the gas debt of a family are the leading topics of today's media.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the problem of providing students with hostels. This problem remains unresolved, since the internally displaced persons live in the dormitory buildings. The author cites the example of foreign countries where entire towns are built for students and there are no problems.

This is a problem in Azerbaijan, and the lack of normal conditions of life affects the level of academic performance, the author believes. Further, the article reveals the situation with hostels and provides specific examples of their availability and existing places.

The newspaper Yeni Musavat continues to write about problem loans, arguing that this issue will remain unresolved for a long time. The author recalls the recent decision of the Constitutional Court regarding problem loans, discussing it with the banking expert Akram Hasanov.

The total amount of problem loans is 1.8 billion manats, both in foreign and local currency.

As is known, the Constitutional Court decided that citizens should return dollar loans in accordance with the exchange rate. Banks continue to threaten and even arrest debtors. In this regard, the European Court has three complaints.

The newspaper Novoye Vremya writes that, according to the balance of payments published by the Central Bank, in the first half of 2018, Azerbaijani citizens spent about $ 1.2 billion on tourism purposes, or to be more precise, foreign countries rendered tourist services to our citizens for this amount. 79% of this is citizens' expenses associated with personal visits.

In 2017, 2.7 million foreigners arrived in Azerbaijan, and the number of local citizens who went abroad amounted to 4.1 million people.

According to the latest data, for 7 months of 2018, the number of Azerbaijani citizens visiting foreign countries was 2.5 million, and 1.6 million foreigners arrived in Azerbaijan over the same period.

The website Bizimyol.info talks about the problem of the Musavat member Aziz Gahramanov, whose debt for gas is 1,950 manats. He was arrested for holding a single protest in front of the Foreign Ministry building and was sentenced to 10 days of administrative arrest.

After his release, he found out that the seal of his gas meter had been torn off. He had his meter replaced and then he learned from the Asan Khidmet service that his debt for gas amounted to 1,950 manats, and this is despite the fact that he carefully pays utility expenses.