Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr I. Khalilova /
Arif Askarov the head of the Azerbaijan State Railway said: Azerbaijani Government intends to define the volumes and sources of foreign arrears required for construction of railway after the State Program on Improvement of Railway Infrastructure (2007-11) is adopted..
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank (WB) are ready to allocate $500mln each for expansion of cooperation in improvement of Azerbaijan's railway infrastructure. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) is holding an assessment and it may offer larger financing than the EBRD and WB.
An agreement has been achieved and in the first stage the EBRD plans to allocate $30mln intended for establishment of Locomotive services based in Bilajar and Boyuk-Shor depots, as well as the purchase of spare parts for Azerbaijan State Railway.
Askarov believes that EBRD credit will be approved only after adoption of the State Program.
This year Azerbaijan State Railway allocated AZN 20mln from its own funds for development of railway infrastructure. The head of the Railway considers the financing volume is possible to remain the same in 2008.