BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 6. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plans to sign a new street lighting project within the EBRD Green Cities program in Azerbaijan’s Ganja city in the upcoming months, Kamola Makhmudova, EBRD Country Head for Azerbaijan, told Trend.
“As immediate next steps, we hope to sign the Ganja street lighting project and start project preparation works for the development of a modern, EU-compliant landfill near Ganja city,” she said.
According to the country head, Ganja became the first city in Azerbaijan to join EBRD Green Cities in March 2020. The first-ever project was signed in May 2022 and concerned the solid waste sector. The EBRD works with the Ganja city Executive Power, the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan and other government organizations to develop pilot projects.
“For the street lighting project, in addition to the EBRD loan, we have secured a 2.5 million euros investment grant from E5P Fund, supported by the EU and other international donors,” the official noted.
In parallel, the EBRD is launching the preparation of the Green City Action Plan for Ganja city - a comprehensive, integrated and multi-disciplinary strategic plan to develop Ganja’s long-term vision for infrastructure assets development. This assignment starts this month, she said.
“We are very excited to welcome beautiful Ganja to the EBRD Green Cities program. This is the Bank’s prominent urban development project that supports cities to overcome their environmental challenges with sustainable infrastructure investments, policy initiatives and capacity building. It helps cities to build a better and more sustainable future for their residents by systematically assessing the cities’ infrastructure needs and developing measures to tackle them. Our program has proved that not only it improves lives for citizens, but also reduces healthcare and policing costs,” Makhmudova added.
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