Viator Jubilee

Trond Langen 02.05.09. Translated by Jon Petter Feidal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It started on April 19, 1999, as the ”Ganja Micro Credit Fund”, a project run by Norwegian Humanitarian Enterprise (NHE). Since then the project has been organised as a separate legal entity: In 2009, Viator Micro Credit Azerbaijan is bigger than its “mother”, with a total of approximately 10,000 credit customers.

Viator has grown quite considerably: At the beginning of 2009 it had a total of 87 employees in 5 branches in addition to the head office. 5 million dollars is in circulation amongst the customers. Some of this money is borrowed, but the majority of it is contributions from the Norwegian state agency NORAD or Viator’s Norwegian founder, as well as generated capital.

And the customers are many: If we were to gather all of the past and present customers we would need to rent a football stadium! Each of them has a family, so the number of people who have been helped to get on in life through loans from Viator is large. Many have been helped to a better life through these loans. The big and unanswerable question is, of course, how many job opportunities these small credits have contributed to the establishment of. The demand is great, and the capital – or lack of capital! – is the limiting factor. Viator is continuously on the look-out for new investors in order to be able to help even more people and, in turn, create even more job opportunities.

Successful celebrations

Such an anniversary, marking such outstanding results provides good reasons for a proper celebration. 200 invited guests took the trip to one of Ganja’s newer establishments in order to celebrate that the “Fund” was opened on April 19, 1999. Among the guests were representatives from the authorities, other micro finance institutions and banks. But a large number of guests were the Viator employees themselves. And the guests were greeted by several guest speakers. The Ganja Chamber Orchestra, as well as the establishment’s own ensemble, contributed to the music, and a trio of comedians performed skits and dances. Additionally, one of the two masters of ceremony, Rizvan, had composed a poem and a song for the occasion. Food worthy of a celebration was served, and the guests were invited to take part in several dances. The atmosphere was very good as I arrived together with the Norwegian Ambassador, Mr. Jon Ramberg, some minutes into the celebration. Many have praised the celebrations afterwards. It is very satisfying to be able to look back at such a successful anniversary celebration!

Back to the treadmill

However, Viator is back to the treadmill again! Demand from customers is on the rise, in parts helped by the financial crisis, noticeable for Viator’s competitors. And there has been a number of meetings with the country’s authorities lately. Viator Micro Credit Azerbaijan’s Norwegian founder, Viator AS, has to make a decision as to its status: Should its micro credit organisation in Azerbaijan be a humanitarian foundation, or a commercial entity? The questions are many, and the deadline for a decision is very short.

As far as the staff at Viator is concerned, they want to continue to provide small loans to their customers in order to be able to continue to meet their needs.

The veterans, Adil, Elmira and Zerifa, as they cut the cake. (Photo: Jon Petter Feidal)

The author and Viator advisor, Trond Langen, , speaking at Viator’s anniversary celebrations. ( Photo: Private)

The anniversary cake and a balloon set to continue to rise! (Photo: Jon Petter Feidal)

Leader training course in the Caucasus                                                                                       Mountain

Trond Langen 03.06.09

-Just getting away from the office and the daily routine is almost like a holiday.

The speaker is Mayil Nagdiyev. He is the credit manager at the Ganja branch of  Viator and was one of 24 participants at a leadership training course in North-West Azerbaijan at the end of May. 

The conference hotel was not so very far from the 3000m high summits of the Great Caucasus mountain range, as Mayil and other participants discovered when the clouds lifted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leadership development
Leadership development has long been the subject of discussions within NHE and Viator. So the 3-day training course for key employees, most of them leaders, was a joint effort. Ruth Ingrid Boe who is a consultant for the Human Resources Development Project(HRDP) had spent the spring developing the course material while the HRDP’s leader, Azad Rahimov did the teaching.

Adil Mahmudov, Oleg Danakari and Fagan Agayev in lively discussion, while  Ruth Ingrid Bøe, Simon Bartlett and Rizvan Rasulov watch from the sidelines.

Excited about Ethics
- There were many interesting themes but the chapter on ethics was the most exciting, comments Ruslan Garayev who works as the accountant at the head office of Viator in Ganja. This is because ethics form the basis for all we do.

Ruslan Garayev works as an accountant at Viator’s head office.

These two colleagues from Viator agreed that it was productive for the two organisations to connect.
- I have met the staff of NHEs office before but was not acquainted with the project staff, says Ruslan. There were many opportunities to connect both through group-work, mealtimes, football matches and not least through the addictive game of”mafia” .

Fines for phones.
 Ellada Khalilova, NHE’s accountant was one of very few female participants at the course. She especially appreciated the group-work. The course enabled her to get to know herself better and provided her with useful ideas.

NHE’s chief accountant, Ellada Khalilova , found the food rather heavy on the stomach during the course so she and her group made fruit salad for the picnic.

- In addition I was happy with the task I was given, she says smiling, because the leader of the course, Azad, chose her to look after the finances. Everyone who came late or forgot to turn off his mobile telephone was fined. Quite a lot of money change hands during the course…  Menzer Ismayillova was happy for, as project assistent for NHE’s  ”Gate keeping”-project, she was the one who was given the fines. A nice sum of money to be used for the benefit of handicapped children who have returned to their families after some time in a children’s home.

Mayil Nagdiyev, Ruslan Garayev, Elchin Hesenzade and Ellada Khalilova having a lively discussion.

 

Ruth Ingrid Bøe’s main concern was to start a process. For this reason it did not matter that only a fraction of the course material was covered. A follow-up course is already planned for the autumn.

A football match between NHE and Viator is a must . NHE won 2 - 1, and Viator wants revenge. Tofik og Ruslan are in a duel here.