16:06, 23 February 2015

Baku residents complain about closed stores and blocked credit cards

The Fatima Zahra Mosque in the Yasamal District of Baku. Photo by Aziz Karimov for the "Caucasian Knot"

After the devaluation of the national currency – the manat, credit cards of Baku residents are blocked; and many shops are closed, said Eyub Guseinov, the chairman of the Union of Free Consumers.

On February 22, villagers of the settlement of Liman of the city of Lenkaran came out to protest against the price rise in the country and drop of the manat. They also stated that most shops in the settlement remained closed.

On February 21, the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) made a sharp devaluation and set the official exchange rate at 1.05 manats per 1 US dollar, against the previous one of 0.78 manats per 1 US dollar on February 20. Local experts believe that it will result in bankruptcy of banks and collapse of small businesses in Azerbaijan.

Since February 22, the office of the Azerbaijani Union of Free Consumers received more than 50 telephone calls from residents of Baku, who complained of closed shops and a denial of service by local banks, said Guseinov. According to his story, in Baku, according to his data, up to 30% of shops remained closed.

"It's nothing but a gross violation of consumers' rights," said Guseinov.

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Economy and Industry said that they would tighten control over pricing in the country.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.