BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 6. Multilateral development banks (MDBs), particularly the EBRD, can help attract long-term financing to Azerbaijan once the necessary technical, institutional, and engineering components of projects are in place, EBRD Deputy Director and Senior Banker Real Hajiyev said, Trend's correspondent reports.
He made the remarks at the German-Azerbaijani Conference on Strategic Partnership and Connectivity in Baku on Tuesday.
He said trade finance programs are suitable for meeting short-term financing needs, while long-term financing first requires projects to be technically, institutionally, and engineering-wise sound.
“The first area is risk mitigation. This can be achieved through blended finance, first-loss guarantees and investment grants for projects that meet certain criteria and fall outside standard requirements,” Hajiyev said.
According to the EBRD official, the second key area is channeling long-term capital available in other countries and financial centers to Azerbaijan through various mechanisms.
“Mechanisms such as A and B loans, syndication and other financial instruments can be used here. The capital is abroad, and I believe investment projects also exist in Azerbaijan. The key issue is to connect the two,” he said.
Hajiyev emphasized that MDBs can serve as a bridge between international capital and investment projects in Azerbaijan.
“MDBs can serve as a bridge between these two sides. The objective is to connect long-term capital abroad with bankable investment projects in Azerbaijan,” the EBRD official added.
