Azerbaijan attaches great importance to cooperation with the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, Azerbaijani Minister of Finance Samir Sharifov said, EDNews.net reports citing AzerNews.

He made this remark during the 22nd annual meeting of the governing board of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, held in the format of videoconference on June 18.

Minister highly appreciated the bank’s activities and achievements in 2019, noting that Azerbaijan attaches great importance to cooperation with BSTDB.

Moreover, he stated that bank’s country strategy for Azerbaijan for 2019-2022 has made an important contribution to the development of this cooperation.

Sharifov highly appreciated the fact that last year BSTDB was the first international financial institution in the country that placed securities in local currency, and stressed that as founding country Azerbaijan will continue to support bank’s activities.

Emphasizing that the coronavirus pandemic has created new problems for all countries Sharifov stressed the need to amend the "Medium-Term Strategy and Business Plan for 2019-2022" adopted by the bank last year in line with these problems.

Furthermore, he informed that comprehensive preventive measures have been taken under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev to prevent the coronavirus pandemic, protect public health and ensure economic stability by quickly responding to the threats of pandemic and global crisis.

Additionally, during the videoconference the bank’s financial and audit reports for 2019 were approved and it was decided to use the net profit earned in 2019 to increase the bank’s capital

The meeting was also devoted to support member countries in overcoming the socio-economic impact of the pandemic, the bank's budget for 2020, the results of the country's strategies, further expansion of existing opportunities and capacities in banking and business among member countries, more active lending to small and medium enterprises.

The Black Sea Trade and Development Bank is an international interstate financial and credit organization that was established in 1999 by member states of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization - Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey, Greece and Ukraine.

BSTDB supports economic development and regional cooperation, participates in lending to projects in the public and private sectors in member countries, opens credit lines, provides investment and guarantees, and finances trade.