Press Review May 17, 2018

The development of Baku as a port city, the restoration of the Baku Interbank Currency Exchange, and the situation with drugs are the leading topics of today's press.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about Baku as an important port city, which has an advantage in its geographical location. The article reminds about the holding of the Ports of Peace Conference in Baku recently.

The newspaper Echo published an article entitled The Baku Interbank Currency Exchange Must Be Restored. The fact is that the international information and trading system Bloomberg, to which Azerbaijan joined in 2011, has not justified itself.

Azerbaijan, having joined Bloomberg, sacrificed part of its sovereignty. Today, all operations between banks and the regulator are made through this system. In principle, in quiet times no risks are borne out. But in crisis moments we can become debtors of this system and completely depend on it. For the sake of economic security of the country, currency transactions should be conducted exclusively within Azerbaijan. This means that the Baku banking currency market should be restored, experts say.

The Novoye Vremya newspaper writes that fraud and illegal actions with medicines discovered in the State Customs Committee have caused public discontent.

The Cabinet held a meeting on the control of illegal traffic, quality and use of medicines. Along with low-quality drugs, there is a high price problem. Uncontrolled price increases for all types of medicines are continuing. -0 ----