New companies for motorways operation maybe established

Azerbaijan’s road operator Azeravtoyol JSC and delegation of the World Bank (WB) discussed establishment of new companies for operation of the main roads.

The meeting was held between Azeravtoyol President Saleh Mammadov and the WB delegation led by Mustafa Benamara, the manager for the South Caucasus’ transportation program. Azeravtoyol reported that seven LLCs maybe created in the country in this regard.

The meeting discussed the current funding status of the WB projects in Azerbaijan, establishment of seven companies on operating the highways and steps in the formation of their material and technical base.

Azerbaijan joined the WB group in 1992. As of November 1, 2016, the WB has allocated loans of $3.99 billion to Azerbaijan. These funds were used to finance 80 projects. Azerbaijan has mastered $2.96 billion, or 74.15 percent of all WB loans.

Azeravtoyol recently reported that a total of 542.7 kilometers of roads were built, repaired and reconstructed throughout the country’s territory in January-September 2016.

The works on road improvement also included construction of 12 new road bridges and repair of five bridges. Moreover, two pedestrian crossings were built and repaired during this period. More than 30 roads, avenues and streets with a total length of 63.2 kilometers were reconstructed and repaired in Baku.

The road infrastructure is utterly important for the functioning of the economy and wellbeing of population. The development of road infrastructure is important not only for local use, but also for regional cooperation – the roads are used for international cargo transportation.