Azerbaijan, Baku, March 2 / Trend N.Ismayilova /
The World Bank has completed its assessment of a project to expand the Baku-Shamakhi-Mugan Highway from two to four lanes. The bank is likely to allocate a mixed loan of $246 million.
"The project will be funded by the International Development Association (IDA), which is part of the WB, for Azerbaijan's quota for 2010 fiscal year amounting to $70 million, and $176 million at the expense of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the bank's Baku office reported.
The Azerbaijani government's is expected to invest 20 percent of the project cost.
Formal negotiations on the draft credit agreement are expected to be held in mid-March. Jacques Brue is expected to visit Azerbaijan for the talks. The WB board will approve the project in April.
The length of Baku-Shamakhi-Mugan is 124 kilometers. Its construction has an estimated worth of $90.11 million.
The Italian company Todini Costruzioni Generali S.p.A is the project's general contractor. The Finnish company Finroad is the project consultant.
Azerbaijan became a WB member in 1992. During this period, the bank approved the provision of loans worth $2.5 billion to finance 47 projects. Only in the 2008 fiscal year, the bank intended to finance 13 projects worth $1.251 billion, accomplishing the four-year budget strategy in two years. Over the next two years (2009-10 years), the WB has expressed readiness to allocate the country more than $1 billion on commercial terms from by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. In 2009, the country received $175 million for two projects, 70 million of which are allocated on concessional terms, and credit for the 2010 fiscal year has not yet approved.
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