Osman Khaliyev: Green financing among priorities of Entrepreneurship Development Fund

The Entrepreneurship Development Fund (EDF) under the Ministry of Economy has been playing a special role for many years in financing private business projects in the country, diversifying Azerbaijan's economy, and creating new jobs.

In an interview with Report, the Chairman of the Fund's Board, Osman Khaliyev, spoke about the EDF's contribution to Azerbaijan's economy, support for entrepreneurs working in the liberated territories, and projects aimed at environmental protection and the use of green technologies.

- How does your fund contribute to the development of Azerbaijan's economy?

- For many years, the Entrepreneurship Development Fund has been providing low-interest financing for investment projects by entrepreneurs in Azerbaijan. By doing so, it has fostered and deepened connections between entrepreneurs and the government.

To date, the fund has provided preferential loans totaling an 3.2 billion manats to over 49,500 projects.

- How do you support entrepreneurs working in liberated areas?

- Entrepreneurs implementing investment projects in liberated territories are extended robust support through two key initiatives.

The first involves extending preferential loans via authorized credit organizations collaborating with the state fund. Launched in 2022, this program has already allocated 21.6 million manats in concessional loans across 10 projects.

The second initiative offers guarantees of up to 90% on commercial loans that entrepreneurs secure for investment projects in the liberated territories. Additionally, we are subsidizing 10 percentage points of the interest rate.

- What are the main conditions of this guarantee mechanism?

- Entrepreneurs operating in Azerbaijan's liberated territories have access to government guarantees and subsidies within this mechanism. Under this initiative, the state provides guarantees for nearly 90% of loans obtained by entrepreneurs from banks and non-bank credit organizations, with a maximum interest rate cap of 15%. Remarkably, 10 percentage points of the interest are subsidized by the Fund. The mechanism also includes a grace period of up to 36 months, not exceeding half of the loan term.

We started to use this mechanism actively on February 1, 2024. This support mechanism is facilitated through an electronic platform that streamlines the application process, guarantee provision, and reporting for entrepreneurs, banks, and the Fund. I would like to note that six entrepreneurial entities have already benefited from this initiative, receiving state guarantees totaling 12.2 million manats for loans amounting to 15.6 million manats. The subsidization process for these financed entrepreneurial subjects has already commenced.