International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) Has Expertise

Language skills and local knowledge from Azerbaijan are better suited to assist Russia in the development of its Islamic Finance sector.

Director of the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy Sergey Drobyshevsky told the Trend News Agency during a conference “Prospects of the Development of Islamic banking on the post-Soviet space” held in Baku in the Khazar University, that Russia is seeking to learn from the experience of Azerbaijan in the field of Islamic banking.

Drobyshevsky stated a subsidiary of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) was already in Russia and it will be easier to work in Russia for the Azerbaijani banks than the Malaysian specialists, “There is no language barrier between Azerbaijan and Russia, they have similar culture and a lot in common,” said Drobyshevsky.

He further stated Islamic banking can claim only 5 percent of the Russian financial market during 5-10 years.

Recent developments in Russia, include a draft law supported by Russian banks who lobbied the central bank on allowing Islamic finance institutions to enter the Russian market, as well as a recent agreement between Russia’s National Rating and the Islamic International Rating Agency to jointly rate sharia-compliant products.

Azerbaijan Islamic Finance Development

Trend earlier reported that IBA Board decided to open an alternative banking department in the subsidiary bank in Moscow. This department will work within the framework of the IBA-Moscow Bank and develop Islamic financing.

The IBA began offering Islamic banking services in 2003, and in 2012 completed a $150 million syndicated Murabaha transaction from UAE banks. Its Islamic banking department is headed by Behnam Gurbanzade.

Source and Contribution: Anvar Mammadov – Trend