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Azerbaijan announces notice to engage IFRS consultant for major railway project

14 January 2010 15:13 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov - APA-ECONOMICS. Azerbaijan Railways Company (ADDY) has announced a notice to engage a consultant for the performance of international financial reporting standards as part of the World-Bank-supported Railway Trade and Transport Facilitation Project.

The purpose of consulting services is to assist in the performance of the accounting system and the establishment of computerized accounting system.

The system should be designed in a form which could affect both the development of an inventory and asset management, and other businesses.

Consultant should have experience in and knowledge of international standards of financial accounting, experience of similar work, etc.

The term of the assignment is approximately 24 months.

With the consent of the customer, portion of the consultant’s work can be performed in its local office. Selection of the consulting company will be in accordance with WB guidelines for Selection and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers.

Further information is available byFebruary 19, 2010 at Azerbaijan Railways (D. Aliyeva Street, 230, tel.: 499-63-95, e-mail: [email protected]).

The Government of Azerbaijan and the World Bank signed a $450 million loan agreement for the Railway Trade and Transport Facilitation Project in December 2009.
The project has four components:

The loan, which has a maturity of 23 years with an 8-year grace period (LIBOR +0.25%), will improve railway services in the country, as well as the competitiveness, financial sustainability, operating and cost efficiency, and capacity of the Azerbaijan Railways (ADDY).

The five-year project will target the transport corridor running towards Georgia (East-West corridor).

The total project cost is approximately $1.1 billion.

According to the WB website, the project has four components:

The Rehabilitation of East-West Main Line component will help rehabilitate the track, signaling, and power supply along the east-west corridor. It is expected that some 240 km of mainline track, which is currently in poor condition, will be rehabilitated. Through this investment, it will also be possible to remove the most critical speed restrictions and allow ADDY to handle existing and potential traffic up to 100 km/h for passenger trains and 80 km/h for freight trains without significant track delays on those 240 km. The project will also finance the conversion of the power supply on the East-West corridor to 25 kV.
The New Mainline Locomotives component will finance approximately 50 new mainline electric locomotives to operate on the East-West corridor.
The Modernization component will help to fully implement the International Financial Reporting System (IFRS), provide Advisory services to ADDY to carry out its modernization program, and provide necessary equipment to ADDY to improve its oil spill prevention and response capacity.
The Project Implementation Component will support the Project Implementation Unit.
The Railway Trade and Transport Facilitation Project supports the implementation of the first phase of the 2008-2011 Program of Railway Modernization of the Republic of Azerbaijan. It will focus on the institutional restructuring of the Azerbaijan Railways.