Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 8 / Trend I.Khalilova /
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) expects the launch of building the first road section of the Masalli-Astara Highway length of 22.15 kilometers, the ADB Baku Office said on Tuesday.
"The contractor for the construction of this road section is in the final stages of approval, and all issues, including the signing of the contract, may be agreed by late 2010," the office said.
The JSC Azeryolservis under the Azerbaijani Transport Ministry expects that construction work will commence before March next year.
The project is funded by ADB in cooperation with the Azerbaijani government.
The contractor must construct a two-lane road, two road crossings, 10 bridges, drainage system and one underpass.
Earlier Azeryolservis revoked the results of the tender on the definition of a contractor for technical reasons. According to the ADB condition, the contractor may be declared only after the completion of land acquisition along the road. Azeryolservis believes this matter had been resolved, it remains to transfer funds.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) extended the terms of a loan to Azerbaijan to reconstruct the Masalli-Astara Highway this week. The loan will be extended until Dec. 31, 2013. Since the loan agreement entered into force in January 2008, the loan resources have remained nearly unused. Earlier the loan period was set to expire June 30.
The road will be constructed using a $200-million ADB loan. The government's share is $49 million.
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Delays on using the credit occurred due to the fact that it was necessary to first implement the plan of redemption of land along the Masalli-Astara Highway to start the construction of the project. Under the terms of the loan agreement, the issue of land acquisition should have been settled prior to June 2010.
The Masalli-Astara Highway is divided into three sections. A contractor is being found to construct the first plot of the road. Currently defined contractor for the construction of the first section, but the company name will be announced after the approval of its candidacy by the bank. The ADB said that the tenders for two other sites also closed and the process of evaluating the proposals of companies are underway.
The ADB Board of Directors approved the project Sept. 28, 2007. Under the agreement, the ADB issued loans worth $190 million partially from its common resources for 24 years with a four-year grace period and libor +0.6 interest rate. Loans were also issued at $10 million under preferable conditions for 32 years with an eight-year grace period and one-percent interest rate.
The credit for the highway was allocated within the Multitranche Financing Facility Mechanism with a sum total of $500 million to finance three road projects. The bank has provided up to 2014 to use the remaining funds.
