Azerbaijan, Baku, July 17 / Trend I. Khalilova /
The World Bank (WB) does not think it reasonable to privatize infrastructure of Azerbaijan Railways in future. The international experience shows that privatization does not always give desired benefits, project manager, WB expert on infrastructure Gerald Ollivier said.
"Therefore, this matter should be considered thoroughly. First of all, one should make sure of maturity of the company for this and that this is the correct decision, " Oliver said.
He said that cargo, passenger transportation and infrastructure should be considered in the context of Azerbaijan.
In terms of geopolitics, I think that even in future infrastructure should remain in state ownership. In some countries, the infrastructure was also privatized, but, basically, in most countries it remains in state ownership. Taking into account the situation in the country and especially in the region, the infrastructure is unlikely to be privatized, " WB expert said.
Passenger transportation is traditionally the industry. It causes damage. Any operator is unlikely to be interested in exploitation of passenger transportation.
"Another option is when the cars are provided by the private sector, and locomotives are provided by the operator of the railway," WB specialist said.
"It is necessary to have a suitable infrastructure to do this, first and foremost. From an institutional point of view, we must accurately determine the cost of network access, i.e, how much private operator must pay to be able to use the network", Oliver said.
It is necessary to determine the exact costs of the railway, i.e the cost of exploitation. "I would not be surprised if it happens in Azerbaijan. But in any case little time will pass, until all of these mechanisms are established", Oliver said.