Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 29
By Azad Hasanli – Trend:
Azerbaijan’s Unibank and the METAK industrial company are negotiating on the issuance of bonds for the country’s population, Vugar Namazov, chairman of the Executive Board at the Baku Stock Exchange, told Trend.
Both issuers are at the final stage for registration of the prospectus, he said.
Last year, Azerbaijan’s state oil company SOCAR issued bonds worth $100 million, and, in fact, became the first company in Azerbaijan to issue bonds for the country’s population. The demand for SOCAR’s securities is still quite high among individuals.
Speaking about this event, Namazov noted that SOCAR became a role model for other companies and showed them that mass issuance of bonds in Azerbaijan can be successful.
“In the third and fourth quarters of this year, we have observed an interesting trend – Azerbaijan’s local companies have intensified negotiations on the issuance of bonds,” he said. “At present, as part of our listing and consultations program, we are negotiating with Unibank and METAK. They received the necessary support and, as a result, are planning to enter the stock market until the end of the year. Both issues will be aimed at broad audience.”
Namazov added that a similar step aimed at mass issuance of securities is necessary for the stock market as well.
“Capital markets provide an opportunity to obtain financing under very optimal conditions,” he noted. “Companies cannot receive such conditions in other segments of financial markets. The question arises: why don’t the companies show high demand for the securities market? In my opinion, this is a psychological factor. As in the case of Eurobonds, everyone expects that someone will take the first step and, if it is successful, the rest will follow suit. Therefore, a role model - a large company that could implement a big issue of securities – is very important for us.”
