Azerbaijan to issue banknotes to commemorate Second Karabakh War

By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan's Central Bank plans to issue commemorative banknotes to perpetuate the country’s victory in the Second Karabakh War, the bank has reported.

“The Central Bank plans to issue commemorative banknotes to perpetuate the victory of Azerbaijani troops under Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's command, in the Second Karabakh War for the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region, as well as the memory of the heroes, glorifying and bringing history, national and cultural heritage, flora and fauna of Azerbaijan’s liberated lands to the international community,” the bank stated.

Moreover, the bank reiterated that given the public interest, national banknotes are developed and put into circulation on the basis of a special concept and in accordance with the Monetary Reform Committee decisions. It should be noted that the committee was established under the Azerbaijani president's relevant order and is led by the prime minister.

The national banknotes which are currently in circulation were released in 2006 after the denomination implemented upon the Azerbaijani presidential decree “On changing the face value of banknotes and the scale of prices in Azerbaijan”, dated February 7, 2005.

The banknotes of this concept, are dedicated to the theme “Independent Azerbaijan” and cover different sub-themes. Thus, AZN 1 ($0.59) banknote - Culture and Art, AZN 5 ($2.9) - Letter and Literature, AZN 10 ($5.8) - History, AZN 20 ($11.7) - Karabakh, AZN 50 ($29.4) - Education and Future, AZN 100 ($58.8) - Economy and Development and AZN 200 ($117.6) - Modern Architecture.

The bank emphasized that over 15 years of its existence, the concept had remained relevant in terms of themes, aesthetic appearance and protection system.

However, based on international experience, in order to strengthen the security systems of national banknotes and increase their resistance to counterfeiting, their design and security elements are being renewed in accordance with the relevant decision of the Monetary Reform Committee.

“During the renovation, the main design elements reflected on the Azerbaijani banknotes in circulation and characterizing the theme of the corresponding denomination were retained as the main motive. Taking into account the latest innovations in the world practice, the renewed AZN 1,5 and 50 banknotes have been put into circulation since the beginning of this year,” the statement reads.

The National Bank of Azerbaijan was established by the presidential decree dated February 11, 1992, and was renamed as the Central Bank of Azerbaijan on March 18, 2009. The main goal of the Central Bank is to maintain price stability within its authorities set by the law, to organize and ensure operations of centralized interbank and other unlicensed payment systems, as well as support the stability of the banking system.