Debts restructuring plan for International Bank of Azerbaijan approved

Baku. 13 July. REPORT.AZ/ The plan on restructuring of the foreign debts in the amount of $ 3,3 billion proposed by the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) was supported by the majority of creditors. 

Report informs referring to Bloomberg, creditors owning 87% of the debts had voted in favor of the restructuring plan one day before the decision was made, on July 12. Notably, in accordance with the Azerbaijani legislation, a positive decision of 2/3 part of creditors is enough to approve the plan.

Notably, International Bank of Azerbaijan wants 20 % of its debts to be paid off and their replacement with government bonds. Foreign investors, such as "Fidelity Management & Research Co" and "Franklin Templeton Investment Management Ltd.", have opposed this decision in the U.S. court. They consider the participation of the Azerbaijani State Oil Fund in the restructuring plan unfair. It should be noted that the insolvency of the IBA's foreign debts came to light when it could not pay off its credit in the amount of 100 million USD on May 10. The final decision regarding the bank's restructuring plan is expected to be announced after the creditors' meeting to be held on July 18.

"Fidelity Management & Research Co." and "Franklin Templeton Investment Management Ltd.", owning 500-million-USD-bonds to be expired in July of 2019, have called on the New York court to abolish the plan, but the court has rejected the request due to fact that voting was not held.