Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has allocated a loan worth $9 million to Azerbaijan's Veysaloglu Group to support its expansion and development strategy.

The Veysaloglu Group's chocolate brand 'Ulduz' is among the best known in Azerbaijan.

The EBRD loan will enable Veysaloglu Group to increase production capacity and expand its current product range with three new confectionery manufacturing lines.

"This will enable the company to meet the significant increase in product demand from domestic and foreign consumers," the bank said on May 15.

Veysaloglu Group consists of two companies, in particular a distribution company that handles a wide range of food and soft drink products with one of the most advanced distribution systems in the country, and a confectionery production company which is mainly focused on quality manufacturing.

EBRD Head of Office in Baku Neil McKain said supporting the development of the private sector and manufacturing in Azerbaijan is among the main priorities of the bank.

At the signing ceremony, Veysaloglu Group's representative Ilgar Nuriyev expressed great satisfaction with the group's cooperation with the bank.

"The EBRD has been supporting our expansion projects since 2008. During the last couple of years, the company has more than doubled its operations and revenue. We are grateful to the bank and especially the Baku office team for working with us to create these opportunities, and we look forward to working on new projects together in the future," he noted.

The EBRD has been active in Azerbaijan since the country's independence. To date, the bank has invested in 146 projects with over $2.5 billion across various sectors of the Azerbaijani economy.

One of the EBRD's priorities in Azerbaijan is to contribute to the growth of the non-oil private sector by investing in dynamic small and medium-sized enterprises.