Baku, Azerbaijan, April 18
By Ilaha Khalilova - Trend:
The Asian Development Bank has submitted a loan agreement on bridge reconstruction project on the 'Agstafa-Poylu-Georgian border' highway to the Azerbaijani government, ADB office told Trend on April 16.
ADB Board of Directors approved allocating a loan worth $ 45 million for the construction of four bridges (one railway overpass and three bridges across the river), reconstruction of local roads in the city of Ganja (365 kilometers west of Baku) in March.
"The expenses for construction work are planned to be fully covered through the loan, while the expenses for tax and customs duty payment will be financed through public funds," the office said.
The total project cost was estimated at $ 58 million, according to the preliminary data.
The project will be re-evaluated before the tender is announced, according to the agreement reached during the visit of the bank's transport mission in Baku last week.
"Accordingly, the cost of the project will be determined after the final cost estimates is prepared," the office said.
It is not excluded to expand the coverage of work, taking into account other local roads and bridges, requiring immediate reconstruction. This can be implemented by saving the loan resources.
It is planned to start the construction work as part of the project during 2014, Azeryolservis under the Azerbaijani Transport Ministry told Trend earlier.
The Agstafa-Poylu-Georgian border highway was commissioned in January 2014 after reconstruction. The total length is 59 kilometers running with two lanes. The reconstruction of the road began in November 2011 and ended in December 2013. As a result of the reconstruction, the road was transferred from the third to the second technical category.
ADB loan funds are part of the last tranche of the first multitranche financing facility package intended for road financing. The multitranche package was approved in the amount of $500 million in August 2007. Around $400 million of this amount was allocated by ADB for construction of the Masalli-Astara road, while some $55.4 million was allocated for financing a part of works under the project for reconstruction and expansion of the Ganja circular road.
ADB was established in 1966 and has 67 members. ADB's active loan portfolio in the country reached $ 1.2 billion. 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