|
EBRD lends $100 million for Azeri roads
Baku to Samur project will enhance Azerbaijan’s role as regional transit corridor
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is making a $100 million
sovereign loan to Azerbaijan to rehabilitate and upgrade a section of the main
north-south road that links Russia and Iran with the capital, Baku.
The loan follows the Bank’s first road project with Azerbaijan – signed in
July last year – to finance improvements to the main east-west highway across
the country, which forms part of the historic east-west Silk Road to Central
Asia.
Both projects will also help restructure the road sector, run by the Ministry
of Transport’s Road Transport Services Department. First steps in this
programme, already being implemented following the 2004 agreement, have
significantly enhanced the road maintenance budget and clearly defined the
respective roles of the Ministry of Transport and Road Transport Services
Department.
About half the country’s freight is transported by road, and 86 per cent of
passengers use road rather than rail. With its oil industry, sea access and
geographical position between Russia, Central Asia and Iran, Azerbaijan is a
natural transit corridor linking regions and cultures, said Riccardo Puliti,
the EBRD’s Director for Transport.
“Developing the country’s road network is a priority for the government of
Azerbaijan, with the long term benefits being enhanced trade and regional
development,” said Azerbaijan’s Transport Minister, Ziya Mamadov. Azerbaijan
asked the EBRD and a number of other financiers to participate in financing
the north-south road corridor from Astara (on the border with Iran) to Samur
(on the border with Russia).
EBRD finance will be used to improve the north-south road between Sumgait, 28
km north of Baku, and Zarat, 89 km north of Baku. The first 28 km of the road
are being rehabilitated using budgetary funds, while the final section,
between Zarat and Samur, is being financed by a Czech export bank.
|
