In October-November 2006, the government of Azerbaijan plans to resume the discussions with the World Bank (WB) regarding possible participation in the new transport projects, particularly automobile roads of rural importance. During the final July visit of WB mission headed by the specialist on road infrastructure Olive Le Ber, the banker expressed a desire to allocate $300 million for financing the road with length of up to 750 km, a government source told Trend. WB shows interest in participating in 6-7 projects.
The new stretches that may be reconstructed through the fund from the WB include roads from Ismayilli to Gara-Maryam (between Goychay and Agsu) and from Mingachevir to Ismayilli. Besides, the banker offered to finance roads of rural and regional importance passing through the territories of Zakatala and Balaken districts.
For the road projects, WB will disburse finance in line with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Within the partnership strategy of WB with Azerbaijan government, it is intended to allocate $550 million for road projects over three years. Today, a decision has been made to allocate $200 mln.