Press Review 08.09.2016

Preparing for the Islamic Games 2017, meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia, the country's leading credit rating agencies, the situation with a mortgage, the tax law  are the  n main themed of today's media.

The official newspaper "Azerbaijan" writes about preparation for the Islamic Solidarity Games to be held in Baku in 2017.

The author writes that the Islamic geography of the Games  is expanding, and presents a list of cities where the Games were held and talks about the goals and objectives of the Islamic Games.

"Azadlig" writes about the meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran in Baku, calling the meeting "Summit of the three." The author argues that this meeting will give an opinion, and presents the opinion  of the political scientist Hikmet Hajizade. According to him, the three presidents adopted Baku Declaration defined the purpose of cooperation and the fight against Baku, Moscow and Tehran. The paper noted that co-operation prevented the unresolved conflicts in the region, including Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to the declaration, the parties will simplify the visa regime, will develop cultural cooperation, as well as the tourism industry. Hajizade believes that the purpose of Iran and Russia is  to create a center for the South Caucasus alternative to the West. If such an idea  is e realized,  it can have serious consequences, the analyst believes. In his view, the involvement of Turkey in this process is undesirable.

"New time"- Service  of credit ratings S&P Global Ratings confirmed the long-term credit rating of SOCAR  at the "the BB" level  The same rating  has the energy company JSC "Azerenergy."  The forecast of the "Azerenergy" rating is also changed from "stable" to "negative."

These large enterprises are the engines of Azerbaijan's economy. However, both of these structures are in a crisis that affects the whole economy. Proof of this is the Asian Development Bank loan in the amount of  $750 million.  Another indicator of the crisis was the recent increase in the electricity tariff.

"Bizim Yol" writes that mortgage loans decreased by 50 times. In the first half of  2016  the mortgage lending at the expense of the Mortgage Fund amounted to 1.1 million manat, by 51.4 times less than a year earlier, according to statistical data of the National Bank.

Mortgage Fund was established in 2005, and loans  are issued since 2006. Social mortgage is issued since 2007, but its duration was only six months. From the state budget for social mortgage is allocated 50 thousand manats, annual percentage does not exceed 4%. In 2015, the Fund issued mortgage loans worth 97.2 million manats.

"Yeni Musavat" is discussing with experts the last order of Ilham Aliyev in the tax area. The expert Gubad Ibadoglu called essential  the application of the simplified patent He believes that this will help small and medium businesses,  and ease the pressure on them. However, in practice this means that the inappropriate test will be eliminated.