Azernews.Az

By Arslan Abbasov

One of the biggest banks of Azerbaijan - Pasha Bank is considering participation in Turkey's banking sector, the chairman of the bank's board of directors Farid Akhundov said at a press conference on Thursday.

"The economic situation and business environment in Turkey make this market very appealing for us. We already finance clients in the country. Our presence in this market is possible and we are currently studying it," Akhundov said.

According to him, the bank retains plans to enter the Swiss market.

"This market is interesting from the point of view of private and corporate investment banking and we would like to get closer to investors. This can be done in several ways, through acquiring a stake in the bank, or opening a representative office, branch or subsidiary," Akhundov said.

According to him, there is no final decision on the next step for entering foreign markets yet and the bank is exploring new markets.

To date, Pasha Bank is represented abroad through the only branch in Georgia.

Akhundov said Pasha Bank intends to extend its work with entrepreneurs outside of the capital.

"We intend to establish business centers in Ganja and Zagatala by the end of this year and in Lankaran in 2014. There are plans to create a business center in the northern part of the country as well. Business centers differ from branches by having more authority, better infrastructure and the ability to provide more services," Akhundov said.

According to him, this number of business centers fully meets the current demands of the bank.

"Our priority today is not retail but rather the corporate segment; therefore, there is no need for an extensive branch network. Most medium and small businesses are currently concentrated in Baku," Akhundov said.

In addition, the bank is actively working on the development of Internet banking, he said.

"We believe this is a promising direction and hope that more and more businesses will resort to banking services through IT-platforms in the future," Akhundov said.

Pasha Bank was established in June 2007 and operates under a license of the Central Bank of Azerbaijan dated Nov.28, 2007.

Its primary objectives are the strengthening of its leadership in corporate customer service, the qualitative growth of business in priority areas defined by the strategy and the creation and continued development of long term and trusted relationships.

The bank, along with Pasha Insurance, PASHA Life, Pasha Travel and Pasha Construction, is included in the Pasha Holding Company which is actually an investment company, rather than a classic holding company. Kapital Bank is also included in the structure of the Pasha Group. The Holding owns 99.75 per cent of the shares in Kapital bank.

PASHA Holding holds 60 per cent of the bank's shares, ADOR ltd - 30 per cent and Arif Pashayev - 10 per cent.