Azerbaijan, Baku, July 3 /Trend A.Hasanov/
The German Development Bank (KfW) has increased the funding amount to 100 million euros to fully restore water and sanitation systems in Ganja and Sheki, Azersu told Trend.
"Under the agreement, 57 million euro of these funds will be allocated for the construction of water treatment plants and 43 million euros to lay water and sewage networks in Ganja and Sheki," Azersu said.
Azersu noted that the bank plans to allocate these funds up to the end of 2012. KfW also plans to provide a grant of three million euros.
Initially the German bank said it was willing to allocate additional 83 million euro: 23 million euro of them were approved by the German government in 2009, 40 million euro in 2010 and 20 million euro in 2011. The bank expresses readiness to allocate over 100 million euro to Azerbaijan for this project.
The budget of the project's first stage is 55 million euro. In accordance with the records signed in Berlin in October, 2006, KfW allocated a 37 million euro loan, Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs allocated 10 million euro as a grant. The Azerbaijani government's share in the project is 8 million euro.
The first phase of the project envisages measures to provide water to Sheki at 100 percent and Ganja - at 50 percent. Further development of water supply system of Ganja is provided in the frame of the second phase.
Feasibility study for rehabilitation of water supply system of Ganja was prepared in 2008, and the design of water treatment facilities in the city was completed in the first half of 2012.
The main purpose of the German bank is 100 percent connect of consumers to the water network, head of the Baku office of KfW Natig Abdullayev told Trend earlier.
"However, completion of the project will be delayed until 2014 due to delays with the definition of a contractor to start the construction in Sheki," Abdullayev said.
The construction work has already been started in Ganja. The work is carried out by the Turkish company Hasalsan. A tender for definition of a contractor for Sheki was announced in May and closed on June 21.
Part of the water supply system was reconstructed at the initial stage of the project in Sheki (the current reservoir with a volume of two thousand cubic meters was recovered, including the installation of chlorination and the construction of trunk water line with length of 2.8 kilometers, the site of water intake facilities Kish). The subject of the tender is to improve the water supply of Sheki with a population of 75,000 people. Under the project, the construction of three new reservoirs with a capacity of three thousand cubic meters each, the reconstruction of the existing reservoir with a capacity of one thousand cubic meters are assumed.
Coverage of consulting services and a partial restoration of infrastructure in Sheki, in particular the purchase of equipment are expected through SECO funding.
The official exchange rate on July 3 is 0.7856 AZN/USD.