THE Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank has approved a loan of US$600 million to finance an energy project in Azerbaijan.
The loan, the largest the bank has made, will be used to support construction of a natural gas pipeline from Azerbaijan through Turkey, known as the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline Project, the bank said yesterday.
Once completed, the project will transport natural gas from fields in Azerbaijan to Turkey and then onto markets in southern Europe. The construction will create jobs in Azerbaijan and Turkey.
The bank is co-financing this project with a number of other multilateral development banks, including the World Bank Group and other commercial entities.
The approval brings the total amount lent by the bank in its first year to US$1.73 billion in nine infrastructure projects across seven countries.
A single purchase
