EBRD lends $50 million to Aztelekom

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is providing a loan of up to US$ 50 million to Aztelekom under the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport to finance the rollout of state-of-the-art broadband infrastructure to more than 280,000 households in the regions of Azerbaijan, Report informs, citing the Bank.

The company's planned network expansion will improve speed, capacity and bandwidth, bridging the digital divide between the capital and rural areas.

Klaus Mueller, CEO of Aztelekom, said: "This is a positive development since the EBRD has allocated a loan without state guarantee to Aztelekom, the main operator of the "Online Azerbaijan" project, which is currently being implemented by the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport, for building a broadband internet connection around the country. Aztelekom has successfully passed the rigorous due diligence process of the EBRD on the assessment of creditors, which includes health, safety, ecological, gender issues and so forth. By meeting the EBRD's strict requirements, the company became one of a select group of companies in the country and region that signed a loan agreement with the EBRD. This fact indicates that Aztelekom has made significant progress in corporate management."

The "Online Azerbaijan" project plans to build a broadband network covering the entire territory of the country with high-speed internet by the end of 2024. The project envisages the replacement of the existing ADSL equipment with GPON equipment.

"Since 2017, when the implementation of the project started, about 766,000 households across the country have had the opportunity to access the fiber-optic Internet, of which 539,000 have been implemented in 2021-2022," the ministry said.