PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) APPRAISAL STAGE Report No.: AB2811 Water Supply Project Project Name Public Disclosure Authorized Region EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA Sector Water supply (60%);Sanitation (40%) Project ID P096213 Borrower(s) GOVERNMENT OF REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN Implementing Agencies Azersu Joint Stock Company State Amelioration and Water 67 Tbilisi Avenue, 370112 Management Agency of Azerbaijan Nakhchivan Tel: 9412-300131 Fax: 9412-983814
[email protected] Environment Category [X] A [ ] B [ ] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined) Public Disclosure Authorized Date PID Prepared February 14, 2007 Date of Appraisal March 7, 2006 Authorization Date of Board Approval June 5, 2007 Country and Sector Background 1. The Republic of Azerbaijan is located on the western coast of the Caspian Sea. It borders Turkey to the west, Armenia to the north west, Russia to the north, and Iran to the south, and has a surface area of about 86,600 square kilometers. About 52 percent of the country’s population of 8.2 million live in urban areas, and about one quarter of them (2.1 million) live in Baku, the Public Disclosure Authorized capital city. 2. Azerbaijan has one of the fastest growing economies in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). Its GNP per capita rose to US$1,190 in 2005 from a post independence low in 1995 of US$390 per capita. This rapid growth is mainly attributed to positive developments in the oil industry, which accounts for almost one third of Azerbaijan’s GDP. Growth in non-oil output has also risen since 1999, with an average annual growth rate of more than 10 percent.