The European Commission signed a contract with German Company POHL who won the bid to provide consultation services within the support project for Azerbaijani Transport Ministry. The project will commence next week, the Executive Director of the Co-ordination Bureau of the Technical Assistance Program of the European Union (Tacis), Asker Alekberov, informed Trend.
From the в'¬1 mln project budget, it is intended to allocate в'¬550,000 toward consultation services. The remaining budget of the project will be directed towards the purchase of equipment.
The support for the Transport Ministry will be provided within the National Action Plan of Tacis for the 2004 fiscal year. According to Alekberov, the necessity of provide assistance to the Ministry is linked with the structure changes in this sphere. Initially the technical assistance had been intended for the formation of the Marine Administration, but this was provided under the Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan. The project's primary goal is to strengthen the potential of the Ministry of Transport and depending on their priorities, departments will be selected and training will be held.
The project is proposed to be for a term of 1-1.5 years.
The gross amount of technical assistance provided by the European Union to Azerbaijan since 1992 totals в'¬419 mln, and for the Tacis program totals в'¬127.5.