Azerbaijan's finance minister told Reuters it wants to borrow $5 billion from international credit institutions over the next few years for large infrastructure projects, including in areas captured in a military blitzkrieg in September.
Azerbaijani forces have retaken control of the mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where ethnic Armenians had enjoyed de facto independence for decades, forcing at least 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee the country.
“We have huge challenges ahead of us,” Finance Minister Samir Sharifov said in an interview. He said the challenges have to do with rebuilding and restoring land now under Azerbaijan's control, as well as boosting the country's economic growth.
Peace talks between Baku and Yerevan are ongoing, with the two sides continuing to negotiate the demarcation of the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) border, which remains closed and heavily militarized.
“In the transport infrastructure sector, there are a number of large-scale projects that can be financed by attracting debt,” Sharifov said.
“Overall, we are talking about additional borrowing of $5 billion.” Azerbaijan's public debt was $6.1 billion at the start of 2024.
Sharifov said Baku plans to repay $1.4 billion of this by the end of the year, eventually raising its public debt to $10 billion.
“We won't issue Eurobonds. It will probably be project financing,” Sharifov said, listing possible sources of funding including the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.
He said the fundraising will likely take place over a four to five year period.
