2005 - 2006 - Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2012

AZERBAIJAN PART 2: COUNTRY ANALYSIS
Azerbaijan
In Baku and the major cities, 95% of the population is connected to water supplies, compared with
83% in other urban areas and 11% for rural areas. Sewerage services cover 78% of the Greater
Baku area and 32% of other urban areas. Some 50% of Baku’s sewage effluents are treated, but the
facilities only operate to primary level. Service delivery is a severe problem, with water typically
available for four hours a day in Baku and considerable indirect evidence of contaminated water
supplies, with 30% of samples failing bacteriological standards in 1996. This is due to investment in
infrastructure effectively ending in the late 1980s. Unaccounted for water accounts for at least 50% of
urban supplies.
Baku’s water and wastewater services are operated by two independent corporatised entities, the
Apsheron Regional Water Company for water and the Baku Wastewater Department. A further 1.7
million people are served by 59 Vodokanals (public water utilities).
Secondary cities and towns 62
With water treatment works 15
With sewerage network 29
With wastewater treatment works 19
In June 2003, the World Bank’s Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility started consultations
over possible private sector provision of water and waste water services in the Greater Baku
metropolitan area. These are still ongoing. In December 2004, the Asian Development Bank
approved a US$30 million loan, which will be combined with US$9.9 million in government financing
to construct and rehabilitate the water supply and sanitation infrastructure in the towns Agdash,
Goychay, and Nakhichivan. This will involve the corporatisation of the entities and is part of a general
drive towards cost recovery for water services, which has been adopted by the central government in
2005.
Source:
World Bank (2000) Azerbaijan Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Review and Strategy, World Bank
58 Pinsent Masons Water Yearbook 2005 – 2006