Baku, Azerbaijan, April 8
By Abbas Akhundov - Trend:
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) plans to approve another loan for the construction of highways in Azerbaijan by September 2014, the bank told Trend on April 7.
ADB intends to provide Azerbaijan with the second loan as part of the new multi-tranche financing (MFF) for road construction in the country ("Second Road Network Development Investment Program") by autumn.
The bank intends to allocate $ 250 million. Some $ 150 million with a total project cost of $ 200 million were planned to be spent for the construction of the Salyan-Jalilabad road, according to the business plan for the bank's operations in Azerbaijan for 2014-2016 approved in February.
Along with discussing the conditions of the new loan, ADB is assisting the Azerbaijani government to conduct research in transport management, road safety and the road construction and design standard development, the bank said.
The second multi-tranche package for the construction of roads was approved in November 2012 to the sum of $500 million, as well as the first MFF. The program envisages the construction of the Masalli-Shorsulu highway to a length of 63 kilometers, consisting of two parts: Masalli-Jalilabad (32.2 kilometers) and Jalilabad-Shorsulu (over 30 kilometers). The cost of the project is $625 million, $125 million of which will be provided by the country's government.
Within the first tranche, the ADB allocated $250 million to build a four-lane Masalli-Jalilabad road. The total cost of the project amounted to $312 million, of which $62 million fell to the Azerbaijani government's share in the project. The loan agreement was signed in April 2013.
ADB was established in 1966 and has 67 members. The bank's headquarters is located in the capital of the Philippines, Manila. Azerbaijan joined ADB on December 22, 1999. The country's share in the bank's capital is 0.5 percent.
ADB's leading shareholders are Japan and the United States (31.2 percent of the total share capital), India and China (12.8 percent), Australia, South Korea and Canada (16 percent) and so on.
translated by NH
edited by CN