Azerbaijan, Baku /corr. Trend I.Khalilova / Laying the first stone of the construction of a new international trade port, estimated at $400mln, is planned to take place in the first half of 2008. It will be constructed from Baku to Alat, said the Head of Azerbaijan's Transport Ministry's Department of Transport Policy and Economy, Sadraddin Mammadov.
The port will be constructed in three stages. The area of the port will be large and managed by advanced technology. Mammadov considers it very important to create logistic transport in the crossing of the north-south and TRACECA because access to rail and road will be ensured.
The first stage of the construction will be over 2008-2011, second - 2011-2013 and the third - 2013-2015. There are plans to create infrastructure in each stage for dry cargo, a container terminal and large port.
The work will be carried out by the South Korean company DS Engineering & Construction, which presented the project in September. A working group has been established by order of the Transport Minister to accelerate the work.
The coordinates and location of the place are determined on the map. Due to this, the Ministry has made an appeal to the State Committee for Land and Cartography, as well as to the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources to request metrology data. In addition, statistic data has been prepared regarding cargo transportation over the last ten years.
According to initial research, the project is estimated at $400mln, but Mammadov did not exclude the probability of this increasing. The Government intends to create the infrastructure with its own finances, but possibly 80% of the work will be financed by foreign loans. According to Mammadov, discussions are going on between DS Engineering & Construction and the Finance Ministry of Azerbaijan with regards to the financial conditions. The Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the World Bank and US banks have demonstrated an interest in financing the project.