Press Review for April 13, 2017

The reliability of Azerbaijan as a partner, the crisis in the banking system, the obstacles to online trade, and the problem of tourists with currency exchange are the leading topics of today's press.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the country's reliability with respect to the international community. It is about Azerbaijan's partnership in the implementation of major international projects and the transformation into the leading force of political and economic processes.

The author especially notes the role of President Ilham Aliyev, whose focus has always been on integration into the Euro-Atlantic space, democratization, the building of a civil society, and the formation of a liberal political and economic environment.

Echo has published an article entitled “The tax on online commerce in Azerbaijan introduced prematurely?”

A new poll has finished on the topic “Banks in Azerbaijan apply an 18% tax on certain foreign online services. How did this affect you?” Among the 150 voters, 57% answered: “I do not use them at all”; 27% - “I try to use them less”; 10% - “I use them rarely”, and 5% - “I continue to use them”. The expert Akram Hasanov believes that such a decision was made prematurely, because in Azerbaijan electronic commerce and non-cash payment have only begun to emerge. And this decision has actually annihilated electronic commerce, and the poll once again showed that.

The Yeni Musavat newspaper writes about the difficulties that tourists face when exchanging currency. The expert Natig Jafarli recalls that for three months of this year 544 thousand foreign tourists visited Azerbaijan.

On the eve of Novruz Holiday, the number of arrivals from Iran was over 60,000. In all likelihood, they all faced the problem of currency exchange, as exchange offices in the country were eliminated. Claiming for the title of a tourist country, Azerbaijan must solve this problem, the expert believes. He cites Georgia as an example, where exchange offices constantly operate. Elimination of exchange points has led to an increase in the number of unemployed, as 4 thousand people who worked in exchange offices were left without their jobs.

Novoye Vremya continues to write about the crisis in the banking system. It is pointless to expect a serious growth of the national economy in the current state of affairs. Accordingly, no improvement in the social status of citizens is foreseen. And this means that citizens will not be able to repay loans. Moreover, the number of such loans will grow.  –0---