ADB, Azerbaijan to sign loan agreement on water project

Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan. 12 / Trend N.Ismayilova / The Azerbaijani government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will sign a loan contract to deliver the second tranche worth $ 300 million to improve the water and sewerage services in Azerbaijan in February, the ADB representative office in Baku told Trend on Thursday. "On Thursday we sent the documents to deliver the second tranche to the Finance Ministry," the ADB representative office said. "It is expected to be signed in February." The loan will be used to complete the work on water and sewerage improvement in Agdash, Goychay, Nakhchivan and Beylagan. At present, ADB has financed two water supply and sanitation improvement projects in Azerbaijan. The first, a $30 million loan assigned in 2004, saw the rehabilitation of the water supply system in Gekchay and Nakhchivan, under a project valued at a total of $39.9 million. That loan period expired on June 30, 2011. As the cost of the project, approved for five years, increased and in order to give full coverage of works in the above regions, ADB assigned $75 million under the MFF as the first tranche, whereas the Government of Azerbaijan assigned $25 million. The MFF was approved to the sum of $600 million by the ADB Executive Board in September 2009. The ADB plans to approve the third, $175 million tranche of the loan on December 31, 2012. The multi-tranche financing has been the basis of 8-years of cooperation between the ADB and the Government of Azerbaijan, taking into account step-by-step investment, supported by the strategy and the program of reforms in water and sewerage areas. Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at agency@trend.az