ADB missions to review progress in road building in Azerbaijan

Baku, June 18 (AzerTAc). Missions from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are to visit Azerbaijan to review progress in road building projects funded by the bank.
On 20 June an ADB mission led by Senior Transport Specialist Reddy Bathula Balabhaskara will assess the current state of the ongoing ADB-funded Masalli-Astara road project and finalize documentation for a new loan to finance the project.
During the visit, the mission will have meetings with Ministry of Transport, Azeryolservis and Ministry of Finance officials.
The team will review the institutional, administrative, organizational, technical, environmental, social, economic, and financial aspects of the project.
On 23 June, a mission led by Senior Project Officer Faraj Huseynbeyov will inspect the construction of the Ganja Bypass road, another ADB-funded project.
Huseynbeyov said in a bank press release: “We are very concerned with slow progress of the Ganja Bypass road. In April 2012, the loan should be closed. Therefore, we expect construction work to be completed before December 2011. We will meet the project team, contractor, and consultant to agree on actions to speed up construction of the bypass.”
According to the agreement between ADB and the Azerbaijani government, the ADB provided a loan of $55.4 million for the rehabilitation of 39 kilometres of a two-lane paved road bypassing Ganja, Azerbaijan's second largest city.
The project road is part of the country's primary east-west highway linking the capital, Baku, to the Georgian border.
The contract between Azeryolservis and the contractor was signed on 26 December 2008. Construction work began in August, 2009.
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