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IDB sets volume for integrated water project in Azerbaijan

Business Materials 21 July 2011 19:48 (UTC +04:00)

Azerbaijan, Baku, July 21 / Trend I.Khalilova /

A mission of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has concluded an assessment of a project to improve water and sanitation systems in Azerbaijan today. The bank is ready to allocate $200 million for the project.

"The bank's mission headed by chief specialist Papa Abdoulaye is on a visit to Baku. The mission reviewed the feasibility of the project and gathered all necessary info. We expect the Azerbaijani government to clarify work to be funded through the state share in the project," the office reported.

IDB plans to finance 74 percent of total project costs, namely for the reconstruction of water supply and sewerage, replacement of water treatment plants, work on cleaning of waste water.

The project will cover six regions - Astara, Dashkesan, Tartar, Gadabay, Samukh and Gazakh.

The office said all relevant documents for credit approval on the water project will sent to the IDB Board of Directors in September.

The project funding is supposed to be under the new cooperation program for the period 2011-2013 that included two projects on water supply and sewerage, for each of which the bank earlier planned to allocate about $110 million. But after it was decided to merge these two projects into one large.

Azerbaijan has been an IDB member since 1992. Today, the IDB portfolio in the country has reached $700 million. The IDB changed the approach of financing the projects in Azerbaijan by increasing the maximum amount of credit allocated for one project nearly five times. Earlier, the limit of financing a project was set between $30-40 million by the IDB. The bank can allocate up to $150 million now.

It was proposed to consolidate the projects - to combine several projects into one by increasing the limit within the preparation of a new strategy for cooperation.

The program is $1.4 billion. The share of the country's participation in the bank's capital amounts to 0.13 percent.

The Islamic Development Bank is an international financial institution established in pursuance of the Declaration of Intent issued by the Conference of Finance Ministers of Muslim Countries held in Jeddah in December 1973. The Inaugural Meeting of the Board of Governors took place in July 1975, and the Bank was formally opened on 20 October 1975.

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