The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has postponed the consideration of allocating a $200 million loan for implementation of the International North-South Transportation Corridor project, as well as for development of Azerbaijan’s railway sector, till the next year, said an ADB message.
Earlier, the bank’s management planned to hold the project’s overview on December 12, however, this date has been currently postponed till April 17, 2017. In addition, an ADB mission, which had to stay in Azerbaijan from November 14 to 25, in order to gather information about the project, will visit the country on March 11-25, 2017.
The project loan will be used mainly to invest in the Baku-Yalama (border with Russia) rail line of the North-South Railway Corridor.
It will cover enhanced management autonomy of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC (ADY) and transport sector governance, effective financial restructuring of ADY’s liabilities, enhanced financial and management control, efficiency and reporting at ADY, and business development and corporate restructuring of ADY.
The infrastructure rehabilitation of the North-South railway envisages the repair and rehabilitation of 441 kilometers of single track between Baku and Yalama, the development of computerized freight operation management system and consulting service support to project implementation and future project development.
Azerbaijan Railways CJSC is the executing agency for obtaining the loan.
ADB was founded in 1966 and has 67 members. The bank is headquartered in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Azerbaijan became an ADB member on December 22, 1999. The country’s share in the bank’s capital is 0.5%.
The North-South transportation corridor is meant to connect Northern Europe to South-East Asia. It will serve as a link connecting the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia. At the initial stage, the North-South corridor will transport 5 million tons of cargo per year with further expansion of transportation to over 10 million tons. (Trend/Business World Magazine)