Press Review 24.10.2017

Relations between the state and the entrepreneur, problems with mortgage lending, negligence in financial and banking documents, and sale of counterfeit butter in the market are the leading topics of today"s press.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the state"s concern for entrepreneurs. The author writes that, in view of the undue interference of officials in the activities of entrepreneurs, the head of state issued a decree prohibiting such actions. It is expected that this ban will be extended until 2021, the author notes, recalling also the last meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers for 9 months of this year. So far, entrepreneurs have been granted preferential loans in the amount of 2 billion manat.

The newspaper Novoye Vremya published an article titled Will Conclusions Be Drawn from Stagnation of Mortgage Program? Mortgage lending in Azerbaijan cannot be called successful. One of the main reasons for the ineffective activity of the Mortgage Fund is excessive requirements for obtaining loans from potential customers and, accordingly, a low level of public confidence in this program. The Mortgage Fund committed irregularities in the allocation of mortgage loans, did not ensure the preparation of rules on the provision of guarantees for mortgages for the poor, and violated the relevant requirements when allocating the limit to authorized credit institutions. Conditions for obtaining a mortgage have changed dozens of times. But it did not become accessible to the population. Mortgage lending continues to stagnate.

The newspaper Echo published an article titled They Withdraw Millions of Manat from Banks and Non-Bank Credit Organizations. In Azerbaijan, several private banks, insurance and investment companies use various schemes for falsifying financial reports. They withdraw millions of manat from banks and non-bank credit organizations. However, virtually no one is held accountable for that. The problem can be solved with the help of public control and the establishment of the financial ombudsman institution. None of the leaders of these banks was ever sentenced to imprisonment. Therefore, there is no sense to toughen the relevant legislation.

The Yeni Musavat newspaper writes about the sale of counterfeit butter in the market, calling it a fatal blow to the population. According to statistics, in Azerbaijan, the import of butter has been halved, which has caused the appearance of counterfeit butter. It is sold in cardboard boxes of expensive butter. In January 2018, the Food Safety Agency will start operating in the country. True, there is an opinion that such a body will not be able to act effectively. -0-