A ROAD BREAKTHROUGH

Wide-scale projects to shape a many-sided transport infrastructure started in Azerbaijan approximately 15 years ago. These capital-intensive projects required quite a lot of state and foreign loans. But the timely implementation of this transport strategy provided obvious advantages to entrepreneurial activity and the development of the rural periphery, turning Azerbaijan into a key transport hub in the Caspian Sea area. 

Over the last few decades something like one third of all state annual investments have been channelled into the development of the transport sector, and the capitalisation of this sector exceeds 20bn dollars.

"Taking advantage of its geographical location at the intersection of regional sea and land routes, Azerbaijan has attracted many billions of dollars into shaping of a branching transport infrastructure," Azerbaijan's Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov, stated at an international conference in Baku devoted to the development of the road network. "In the last decade alone investments in this sector have amounted to 21 per cent of the total investments in the country's economy, and its share of GDP has reached 5.1 per cent. The average annual growth in the volume of freight transportation over the period under review was 5.7 per cent, the number of passengers carried rose by 3.7 per cent and transit transport increased by 3.4 per cent."

The extent of the undertakings in developing the country's transport infrastructure can be judged from the major projects implemented over this period. Here it is undoubtedly appropriate to recall the extremely large international projects such as the construction of export-orientated oil and gas pipelines, the financing of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway corridor as well as the upgrading of the Baku-Boyuk-Kasik section of the mainline railway and the purchase of rolling-stock. For these purposes, the foundations of a factory to build passenger carriages were laid in Ganca at the end of last year.

 Last year a new airport terminal complex was commissioned at the Heydar Aliyev international airport in Azerbaijan, and in previous years six state-of-the-art airports started operating in the republic's most important administrative centres. Last year was also marked by the start of operations at the biggest ferry terminal in the region at the "Yeni Baki" international seaport which is currently under construction. Over the last couple of years new shipyards and ship-repair enterprises have been built in the Zix spit district, and ferries and tankers, dry-cargo ships and passenger and freight vessels have been purchased. The experience of the last few years has clearly shown that a country will not be able to achieve success in developing the non-oil sector of the economy, in reviving the regions and modernising the social sphere, without multi-billion investments in the transport infrastructure.

"Many states that were not able to invest the necessary capital in the development of the transport sector and other infrastructure projects in time, regret this today," Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev stated during a conference devoted to the results of the first year of implementing the 2014-2018 state regional socio-economic development programme. "Today these countries are trying to make up for lost time, but the burgeoning opportunities have largely been missed. Nowadays, when the prices of oil are falling, it is not so easy to make major investments in costly projects."

Right from the start of the market reforms Azerbaijan consistently and largely independently pursued a transport infrastructure development strategy. As further events have shown, this turned out to be the only correct choice, since reckoning solely on attracting foreign investors or the voluntary participation of parties interested in the transport infrastructure is not always justified. Such important projects as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway corridor or the formation of the TANAP [Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline] and the "Southern Gas Corridor" would still be on paper, if our country had not taken the initiative, submitted realistic proposals and provided the necessary financing," the head of state stressed.

He also cited the example of the construction of the regional airports, after recalling that, when that work was started, some experts believed that there was no need to expend additional money in this manner. "But look how many citizens, including business people from the southern and north-western regions, can now easily fly to different countries and no longer need to waste time coming to Baku in order to do that," President Ilham Aliyev noted.

It must be said that the most impressive success in developing the transport networks has been achieved precisely in the building of motorways. Over the last 10 years something like 10bn dollars has been invested in the development of the country's road network. The total length of top-grade motorways that have been built over the last 5-6 years is 1,500 km, and the total length of Azerbaijan's upgraded traffic corridors included in the international TRACECA [Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia] and north-south projects is as much as 1,915 km. A few years ago work was completed on a 208-km stretch of the Baku-Samur motorway. Large scale work on the 508-km-long motorway from Baku to the Georgian frontier is nearing completion. In the next two years the remaining more than 300 km of motorways should be upgraded to world standards, primarily in the south of the country.

According to the head of the Transport Ministry, Ziya Mammadov, 2.5bn dollars were invested in the country's transport infrastructure in 2014 alone, while something like 1.9bn dollars of this money was channelled into the construction of roads. Altogether, over the last 10 years approximately 11,000 km of roads and 300 bridges have been built in Azerbaijan. The minister stressed that a large part of this money has been injected into the development of the road network of Greater Baku. Thus, 100 km of new motorways have been built in the capital, 70 bridges and 84 pedestrian underpasses and above-ground crossings have been constructed.

It is noteworthy that the building and reconstruction of village roads has been designated for priority financing by the treasury over the last three to four years. The Ministry of Transport has particularly focussed on reconstructing 14,300 km of local-designated roads and 2,700 km of republican-designated roads. To all appearances, even after the construction of internationally important motorways has been completed by 2017, the financing for local-designated roads will remain an important element in road building in the regions for many years to come.

The drop in world oil prices and the reduction in export earnings will undoubtedly cause a certain slowing down in the rates at which the transport infrastructure develops. "It should be recognised that the drop in world oil prices may delay the implementation of a number of costly projects, in particular the development of high-speed train and tram networks," Transport Minister Z. Mammadov stated. "But as the global economic situation stabilises, realistic prerequisites will emerge for realising such promising projects in our country."

For all that, the main advantage today stems from the timely efforts of Azerbaijan's government to promote the implementation of most of the large-scale, capital-intensive road-building work before another stage in the global economic crisis starts. At the present time, Cavid Qurbanov, the chairman of the "Azeryolservis" Joint Stock Society believes, the process of building and reconstructing the road infrastructure is entering a qualitatively new stage based on the application of the latest technologies and innovations in this sphere, boosting quality features as far as possible and ensuring the long-term durability of road communications.

AT FIRST HAND

"Many states that were not able to invest the necessary capital in the development of the transport sector and other infrastructure projects in time, regret this today. 

Today these countries are trying to make up for lost time, but the burgeoning opportunities have largely been missed. Nowadays, when the prices of oil are falling, it is not so easy to make major investments in costly projects." 

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev