WB starts official talks on new agricultural project with Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, May 17 / Trend A. Akhundov /

The World Bank (WB) has started official talks with the Azerbaijani government as part of the 'Azerbaijani Rural Investments (AzRIP)' second project, the WB Baku Office told Trend today. "Negotiations started on May 16," the bank said.

The WB mission, headed by project manager Daniel Owen arrived in Baku. "It is still early to speak about the preliminary results of the negotiations," the WB office said. These negotiations are the last stage in the process of the project approval.

"If they are successful, the project will be submitted to the WB board of directors for approval," the bank said.

The bank plans to deliver a loan worth $ 30 million from the International Reconstruction and Development Bank's funds to implement the project.

The new project is a continuation of the first one. As opposed to it, it covers the whole territory. The implementation of the first project will be completed in 2012. The second project is designed for 2012-2017. Moreover, while it presently covers only 45 regions, the second one aims to cover 56.

The loan agreement for the AzRIP first project was signed on September 23, 2004 and came into force on December 29, 2004. The total cost is $21.1 million, $15 million of which accounts for International Development Association credit, $3.3 million in a grant from the Japanese government and the remainder is paid by the government and beneficiaries (communities) all sharing $1.25 million in the project.