BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 5. The information systems of the Azerbaijani Ministries of Agriculture and Economy will be integrated with each other, Trend reports.
This issue is reflected in the decree on regulating a number of issues on preferential financing in agriculture and amending some related decrees signed by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev.
According to the decree, the Ministry of Agriculture must ensure the organization of the spending of loans for the intended purpose specified in Part 6-1 of the "Rules for the use of funds of the Agrarian Credit and Development Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture", approved by the decree of the President of Azerbaijan dated December 19, 2018, through the "agricultural trade (tapaqro)" subsystem of the "Electronic Agriculture" information system, and the integration of that information system with the relevant information systems of the Ministry of Economy in order to transfer information about this.
The Ministry of Finance, together with the Ministry of Agriculture, should take measures to use the 10 million manat ($5.9 million) portion of the funds allocated from the 2026 state budget for the purpose of paying subsidies to agricultural producers to finance interest on loans, and should include the funds required for this purpose in the draft state budget in the following years.
By the decree, in order to finance the costs of agricultural production (purchase of agricultural production means, including mineral fertilizers, biohumus, certified seeds and pesticides, as well as the use of agrotechnical services), the payment of the part of the interest calculated on the principal debt of loans granted to business entities for a period of up to one year at the expense of authorized organizations (except for leasing organizations) to be financed at the expense of the funds of the Agricultural Credit and Development Agency is ensured at the expense of funds allocated to the Agency for this purpose from the state budget.
The annual interest rate of loans financed by the Agency's funds and the list of agricultural products whose production is financed with these loans are determined in accordance with the "Rules for subsidizing agricultural production" approved by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated June 27, 2019.
Business entities officially apply to the authorized organization (except for leasing organizations) for the provision of preferential loans specified in this Regulation. The authorized organization (except for leasing organizations) makes a decision on the provision of loans by analyzing credit risks no later than 15 business days from the date of registration of applications, or sends (presents) a reasoned letter of refusal to business entities. The authorized organization (except for leasing organizations) submits to the agency the required information (on the amount of the loan, its purpose, the period of use, and the registration of the business entity in EKTIS) and documents regarding the application it positively evaluates. The agency, within 10 business days, verifies the compliance of the submitted information with the indicators determined in accordance with paragraph 6-1.2 of this regulation and approves the interest amount calculated in proportion to the loan amount to be granted or send (submit) a reasoned refusal letter to the authorized organization (except for leasing organizations).
The authorized organization (except for leasing organizations) transfers the loan amount allocated in accordance with the procedure provided for in the regulation to the card account (current account of a legal entity) of the business entity and use it without cashing out. The business entity transfers the loan funds to the accounts of suppliers through the "agricultural trade (tapaqro)" subsystem of EKTIS for the purpose declared during its application in accordance with this regulation. Documents confirming the delivery of relevant products, work, and services in exchange for the loan are integrated into EKTIS with the consent of the deliverer through the Automated Tax Information System of the State Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy.
Entrepreneurs must pay their principal and interest debts on preferential loans received and the part of the interest debts not financed by the agency's funds in accordance with the terms of the contract. The agency ensures the calculation of the financed part of the interest on the loans granted and the implementation of payments on that part no later than once a quarter. The agency doesn't bear any other obligations and responsibilities under the contract, except for the financed part of the calculated interest debt.
If, during the monitoring carried out in accordance with this regulation, cases of non-use of the loan funds or their non-use for their intended purpose are detected within three months, the agency suspends the calculation and payment of the financed part of the interest.
In the case provided for in this regulation, the authorized organization (except for leasing organizations) returns the paid concessional funds to the agency. If, after the written request of the agency, the authorized organization (except for leasing organizations) doesn't ensure the transfer of funds within 30 business days, the agency takes measures stipulated in regulatory legal acts to return the delayed amount. The returned funds are used in accordance with the purposes of this regulation.
In accordance with this regulation, the authorized organization (except for leasing organizations) demands the funds returned to the agency from the business entity. Such business entities aren't granted loans with a part of the interest financed by the agency for the next three years.