Azerbaijan, Baku / corr Trend I.Khalilova / The Azerbaijan Government intends to rehabilitate talks with the World Bank (WB) on the assistance to rail transit and trade after the adoption of the State Program on Improvement of Railway Infrastructure in Azerbaijan in 2007-2012 with the total budget of AZN 1.2bln, the Cabinet of Ministers said on 3 September.
Nevertheless, WB mission led by Gerald Olive, senior specialist on transport and head of project team will visit Baku from 4 to 8 September with this respect.
As of initial calculations, the budget of the project is some $400mln. Under the WB's Partnership Strategy with the Azerbaijan Government in 2007-2010 it is planned to allot $80mln to he project, because it will be financed through the loan of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the bank does not put any limitation on its amount. Though exact amount of financing will be defined after the final estimation of the project, the bank has stated its readiness to increase this sum of the loan. Azerbaijan's share in the project will range from 20% to 30%.
WB consultants developed initial description of the project, though its directions are still to be determined.
