Azerbaijan, Baku, June 26 / Trend I.Khalilova /
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has reached an agreement to accelerate work on the construction of the Ganja Ring Road, the ADB Baku Office said.
"The ADB mission headed by transport specialist Reddy Bathula Balabhaskara visited Azerbaijan this week to assess the road projects. The mission held meetings with the contractors and subcontractors of the construction work and consultants to agree on future actions in an attempt to speed up the process," the office said.
According to the agreement, a concrete action plan will be prepared for the completion of the Ganja ring road until December 2011.
The bank's concern is linked with the fact that the loan must be closed until April 30, 2012.
According to agreement between ADB and Azerbaijani government, ADB provided a loan of $55.4 million for rehabilitating 39 kilometers of a two-lane paved road bypassing Ganja, Azerbaijan's second largest city. The project road is a part of the country's primary east-west highway linking the capital, Baku, to the Georgian border. It will meet Azerbaijan's standards for a category II road with a 7.5-meter-wide pavement.
The contract between "AzerRoadService" OJC and the contractor was signed on December 26, 2008. Construction works commenced in August, 2009.
The contract with the contractors was initially designed to implement construction within two years.
The Ganja project includes the purchase of water pipes, the construction of three new bridges, the erection of safety and other signs and reconstruction of the two-lane highway.