AZZA GROW (IFC-50032)

Regions
  • Europe and Central Asia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Countries
  • Azerbaijan
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Specific Location
Baku; Khirdalan city within the Absheron district
Whenever identified, the area within countries where the impacts of the investment may be experienced. Exact locations of projects may not be identified fully or at all in project documents. Please review updated project documents and community-led assessments.
Financial Institutions
  • International Finance Corporation (IFC)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Proposed
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
B
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Nov 26, 2025
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
AZZA CJSC
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Industry and Trade
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Loan
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 10.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Loan Amount (USD)
$ 10.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 10.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Bank Documents
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ IFC website

Updated in EWS Oct 29, 2025

Disclosed by Bank Oct 22, 2025

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to the IFC, established in 2004, AZZA (the Company) is the largest producer of cakes and the largest importer of European confectionary products in Azerbaijan. Its products are retailed through a wholly owned network of stores across Azerbaijan. The Company employs 1,400 people and currently operates 3 baking facilities and 115 retail shops, primarily in Baku as of September 2025. IFC is considering providing a US$10 million financing package to Azza to finance (i) a portion of the key capex components of a modern industrial bakery with an annual capacity of 20,000 tons and (ii) expansion of Azza’s stores in Baku and the regions of Azerbaijan (the Project).

The greenfield bakery facility, located in the industrial zone of Khirdalan city within the Absheron district, spans an area of 13,000 m². It will have an annual production capacity of 20,000 tons. The construction has been completed and the targeted completion date for the facility is December 2025. With the planned modern industrial bakery, AZZA plans to scale-up the production and replace its 3 existing leased production facilities.Additionally, over the next 5 years, AZZA plans to expand its retail presence by opening 155 new stores in underserved regions across Azerbaijan. As a result, the total number of stores will be 200-250 by 2027. In the long term, the Company envisages entering international markets, starting with neighboring countries like Georgia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.                                                 

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.
Private Actors Description
A Private Actor is a non-governmental body or entity that is the borrower or client of a development project, which can include corporations, private equity and banks. This describes the private actors and their roles in relation to the project, when private actor information is disclosed or has been further researched.

As stated by the IFC, AZZA is the largest baked goods manufacturer, the largest gastronomy retailer and the largest importer of European confectionary products in Azerbaijan. AZZA is majority owned by Mr. Zohrab Aslanov.

Private Actor 1 Private Actor 1 Role Private Actor 1 Sector Relation Private Actor 2 Private Actor 2 Role Private Actor 2 Sector
- - - - AZZA CJSC Client Industry and Trade

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

Client - AZZA CJSC:

Teymur Garakhanov - Head of Financial Operations Department
Phone: (+994 77) 220 33 03
Email: teymur_qaraxanov@azza.az 
Address: 2, 5th Turn, Hasan Aliyev Street, Industrial Zone, Khirdalan, Azerbaijan
Website: https://azza.az/  

General IFC Inquiries - IFC Communications:

Address: 2121 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington DC 20433
Telephone: +1 202-473-3800
Fax: +1 202-974-4384

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If you believe that your request for information from IFC has been unreasonably denied, or that this Policy has been interpreted incorrectly, you can submit a complaint at the link above to IFC's Access to Information Policy Advisor, who reports directly to IFC's Executive Vice President.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF IFC/MIGA

The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) is the independent complaint mechanism and fact-finding body for people who believe they are likely to be, or have been, adversely affected by an IFC or MIGA- financed project. If you submit a complaint to the CAO, they may assist you in resolving a dispute with the company and/or investigate to assess whether the IFC is following its own policies and procedures for preventing harm to people or the environment. If you want to submit a complaint electronically, you can email the CAO at CAO@worldbankgroup.org You can learn more about the CAO and how to file a complaint at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org

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