Press Review 28 February

The preparation of NGOs for elections, the state of the country's economy, and the reduction of bank investments are the leading topics of today's press.

The newspaper Khalg Gazeti writes about the readiness of NGOs to conduct elections. The chairman of an NGO Zaur Mirzazadeh assesses the pre-election situation that precedes the holding of free and transparent elections. According to Mirzazadeh, active participation of Azerbaijanis abroad is quite realistic. Transparent and fair elections will increase the political authority of the country, raising the chances of a just settlement of the Karabakh conflict.

The newspaper Echo published an article titled "The current economy of Azerbaijan: stable but unreliable". The restoration and stabilization of the Azerbaijani economy will take at least five years. The Azerbaijani economy has not yet emerged from the crisis. The decline in most macroeconomic indicators openly indicates this. The standard of living of the population since 2015, that is, during the crisis years, has decreased several times. Domestic production is still at a minimum level. Nevertheless, there are successes in diversifying and improving the business environment, experts say.

The newspaper Novoye Vremya published an article titled "Investments are a serious matter". It should be recognized that problems have also been revealed in the sphere of bank investments in the economy of Azerbaijan. This affected not only the capital, but also the regions. In Azerbaijan, the share of bank loans in the structure of investment in the economy in annual terms decreased by 1.5%.

For the banking system, investments in the economy and the social sphere should become a top priority, the author believes.