Improving the Sustainability of Road Management and Financing in Azerbaijan

A well-maintained road network that
provides the level of service required by road-users is an
important element of Azerbaijan's development strategy
to accelerate economic growth and reduce poverty. As part of
this strategy, the Government of Azerbaijan (Government) has
undertaken major capital improvements on the major arterial
road network. However, the secondary and local roads
continue to be underfunded, and a large rehabilitation
backlog has been accumulating in recent years. Deferred
maintenance leads to a future burden of more expensive
rehabilitation and road reconstruction: for every US$1 in
deferred maintenance, there is an associated US$4 cost to
road-users. To avoid such a scenario, the Government needs:
(i) to devise an institutional and financing framework that
provides adequate funding for maintenance and
rehabilitation; and (ii) to finance capital improvements on
key priority roads. The objectives of this study are: (i)
to identify the weaknesses and challenges confronting the
sustainability of road maintenance and rehabilitation; (ii)
to determine to what extent these factors are linked to
particular institutional and financing arrangements; and
(iii) to assess how these factors can be resolved. The study
makes a series of recommendations aimed at improving the
management and financing of the road sector in Azerbaijan.