Azerbaijani Money (the Manat)

Azerbaijan has recently changed from the Mim Manat to the New Manat. This has led to wide spread confusion among most tourist as many business across Azerbaijan still use the mim manat for pricing of items. Most of the businesses in Baku use new manat in pricing. I will do my best to clear up any confusion for those of you may be interested in visiting.

5000 mim manat=1 new manat
1000 mim manat=20 kopec
100 kopec=1 new manat

So if someone gives you the price of 122,000 for your groceries, do not panic. It is not new manat, well unless you really like to eat well and have bought the store. The actual price is 24.40 new manat or 24 new manat and 40 kopec.

This is where it gets a little tricky. In the old system, there was also the Shirva (spelling?).

1 shirva=10000 mim manat=2 new manat

If you go to any of the bazaars here or any other place that does not have prices marked, sometimes you will get prices quoted in shriva. If someone asks for 15 shirva, they are asking for 30 new manat.

If you are merely visiting Baku, you probably will not need this, but if you venture outside into other regions, it is good know.