Baku, Azerbaijan, March 29
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
The board of directors of the World Bank (WB) today approved the additional $140 million to fund the expansion of the Baku-Shamakhi highway, said in statement, published on official website of the WB.
The loan will be issued through the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which is a part of the WB group.
The total additional funds for the project hit $186.6 million. Out of this, $46.6 million account for the government's share.
Forty percent of the funds will be spent on restructuring and privatization of state-owned enterprises in this sphere.
WB's total investments in Azerbaijan's road projects (I, II, III road projects) amounted to $1 billion.
The funds will be used to carry out the remaining work as part of the additional funding.
Reconstruction of the Baku-Shamakhi highway is being carried out as part of the third project for rebuilding main roads.
The "Azerbaijan Highway 3 Additional Financing" project, totaling $356.15 million, was approved in 2010. The project includes two directions: 1) reconstruction of Azerbaijan's trunk highway system and transit corridors; 2) reconstruction of local roads as part of the regional development strategy.
The project for reconstructing the Baku-Shamakhi-Muganli highway is meant to expand it from a two-lane to a four-lane road. The project will be completed in September 2016.
Azerbaijan joined the World Bank in 1992. The WB has allocated $3.786 billion worth loans to Azerbaijan as of Feb. 1, 2016. These funds have been used to finance over 60 projects.
The country has absorbed $2.764 billion as of early 2016, or 73 percent of the total WB loans. Aside from the loans, the WB allocated 45 grants totaling $41.586 million to Azerbaijan from 1995 to 2014.
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