$1,8bn invested in Azerbaijan's road sector in 2019
By Ofeliya Afandiyeva
Investments made in Azerbaijan's road sector increased by 7.9 percent year-on-year, amounting to $1,8bn, local media reported, citing the Cabinet of Ministers.
According to the Cabinet of Minister’s 2019 summary report, in 2018, investments worth $1.8 billion were directed to the development of the road sector in Azerbaijan. Thus, the volume of investments made in this connection for 2019 increased by 7.9 percent.
In particular, $189.7 million was allocated from the Special Budget Fund on Roads for the maintenance and repair of public roads in the country, roads and road facilities in Baku.
Other financial sources for investments in road sector include $531.6 million - domestic investment funds; $61.1 million – The Reserve Fund of the Azerbaijani President; $244.2 million - the loans allocated by foreign financial institutions for projects implemented at the expense of state-guaranteed loans; $61 million - the share of the Azerbaijani Government.
According to the document, last year, 1,376.6 km of roads were reconstructed in the country, including 139.8 km of national importance and 908.8 km of local importance. Reconstruction work has been carried out on 328 km of roads in Baku and Sumgait.
In addition, 14 new bridges were built on public roads, 17 damaged bridges were restored, 13 pedestrian crossings were repaired.
Over, in 2019, construction and reconstruction work was completed on 54 projects, including five projects of national importance, 39 inter-village, and 10 inter-settlement road projects in Baku.
It should be noted that cargo transportation in 2019 increased by 4.0 percent and passenger transportation increased by 2.6 percent compared to 2018. Thus, cargo turnover amounted to 17530.8 million ton-km while passenger turnover amounted to 25950.1 million passenger-km in 2019. Compared to 2018, these indicators increased by 4.0 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. By the end of 2019, the number of vehicles in the country increased by 3.5 percent to 1.4 million units, and the number of private cars per 100 families reached 54 units.
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