Government financing for development and maintenance of the road infrastructure in Azerbaijan since the start of the road network renovation program has exceeded $10 billion, Report informs referring to the World Bank (WB).
The WB has supported the Azerbaijani government’s road sector program with three highway projects, with a total investment of about $1.1 billion since 2001.
The Bank cooperates with other development partners, such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which are also supporting the road sector in Azerbaijan through large-scale investment operations.
"Modernization of road assets in Azerbaijan was accompanied by institutional improvements. However, the pace of these improvements, so essential to modernize the road sector, such as establishing effective asset management practices, ensuring financial sustainability, and enhancing the road safety framework, have not kept pace with road investments. Nevertheless, important progress has been made in recent years," the bank said.
The WB financed Third Highway Project (THP) supported the establishment of an effective maintenance system for the motorway network. Between 2012-2019, the government’s efforts resulted in the reduction of road accident fatalities in the country by about 30 percent.
In 2018, the President of Azerbaijan approved a comprehensive reform-oriented State Road Safety Program for 2019-2023, which was first initiated under the WB financed Second Highway Project. Meanwhile, EBRD and ADB have provided financing for technical assistance (TA) across a range of areas, including road maintenance for secondary and local roads, and capacity building for road agency personnel.
Road safety needs further improvement in Azerbaijan, the WB noted.
"Currently Azerbaijan has more fatalities from road crashes than many other countries in the wider region. Substantial state investment in road infrastructure has brought benefits in terms of more efficient traffic management, and these measures have played an important role in reducing road traffic crashes in Azerbaijan in recent years, but further improvement is needed. The Government wishes to ensure that high quality technical standards are applied to improve roads and traffic safety," reads the message.
Despite progress, the establishment of effective technical and institutional frameworks for road network operation and management is still work in process, according to the WB economists.
"The Road Fund has insufficient resources for road maintenance, and additional revenue is needed to address the maintenance backlog and to improve financial sustainability of the sector. Azerbaijan is interested in adopting user pays principles and introducing road user charges (RUC), as a means to improve financial sustainability. In parallel, the government wishes to reduce the rate of deterioration of the road network and recognizes that operational efficiencies could be improved through better enforcement of axle load controls," the report noted.