Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

The State Fund for Development of Information Technologies under the Azerbaijan ICT Ministry has signed contracts with the banks selected as authorized agents for funding start-up projects.

The news was announced by State Fund's Executive Director Elchin Zeynalov said on January 9.

"Pasha Bank", "Bank Respublika", "Demir Bank", "Rabita Bank", and "Bank BTB" were selected as the fund's authorized banks, Zeynalov added.

"Projects will be financed from the state budget. Entrepreneurs in the ICT sector may apply to the authorized credit institutions for funding after receiving the funds envisaged for this purposes in the state budget for 2014. This is expected by late January. Five million manat (over $6 million) will be allocated to the fund to support start-up projects this year," Zeynalov said.

The issuance of small, medium, and large loans and grants from the State Fund is envisaged for financing the project.

Every Azerbaijani citizen can avail himself of the advantages of the ICT Fund's financing. The maximum grant available is up to 300,000 manats (over $382,000), provided for a period of 36 months.

The amount of small grants is designated at 10,000 to 50,000 manats (from $12,750 to $63,751) with a term of three years, while medium grants could be from 50,000 to 500,000 manats (from $63,751 to $637,511) with a term of five years, and large ones could be from 200,000 to 300,000 manats (from $255,004 to $382,506) with a term of 10 years. The interest rate on the loans will not exceed five percent per annum.

Each submitted start-up project will undergo a thorough examination. All decisions will be made at Supervisory Board level, which is a very important factor in the transparency of the fund.

In turn, this will allow for the selection of the best projects. Along with support for entrepreneurship, the fund will also provide the necessary consulting services to start-up participants.

One of the important aspects of the fund's activity is commercializing innovative ideas both inside and outside the country.

The State Fund was established to implement the state policy on the development and support of small enterprises in scientific and technical fields, and defines three ways of financing: investments, grants, and credits.