Contacts: In Baku: Saida Bagirli (+994 12) 4921941 sbagirli@worldbank.org In Washington: Michael Jones (202) 473-2588 mjones2@worldbank.org BAKU, June 17, 2008 – Today, the Executive Directors of the World Bank approved three projects under the Absheron Rehabilitation Program (ARP) that aim to improve the environmental situation in Absheron Peninsula, home to many in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Total World Bank financing of these three operations will be $164 million. These projects will help to rehabilitate the land polluted by the legacy of onshore oil production in Absheron, clean and safely dispose radioactive waste from defunct iodine enterprises, and improve management of solid waste in the Baku metropolitan area. "These three projects are a part of a historical effort Azerbaijan is undertaking to improve the ecological situation of the Absheron Pennisula, and particularly to bring ecological conditions in Baku to European standards. The World Bank is very honored to participate in this effort,” says Gregory Jedrzejczak, Country Manager for Azerbaijan. Most of Azerbaijan’s industrial potential is concentrated in the Absheron Peninsula, which also is one of the oldest oil producing regions in the world. Decades of industrial operations without proper care for the environment have left about 30,000 hectares of land in the peninsula polluted by oil products and various industrial waste. Moreover, the weak solid waste management system is unable to collect and dispose of any more than 60 percent of solid waste produced in the area. These factors pose serious health risks, and limit expansion of two major cities situated in the peninsula – Baku and Sumgayit, as they are ringed by the polluted zones. "The Absheron Environmental Program is one of the most comprehensive and ambitious environmental rehabilitation programs in the region and these three projects are part of series of projects being developed by the government to address multiple environmental concerns in the greater Baku area,”said Aniruddha Dasgupta, the leader of the team that worked on the three projects,. The Absheron Environmental Program has been prepared in response to the Government’s Environmental Action Plan and consists of three projects: the Contaminated Sites Rehabilitation Project (WB loan of $74.50 million); the Large Scale Oil Polluted Land Clean-up Project (WB Loan of $60 million); and the Integrated Solid Waste Management Project (WB Loan of $29.5 million). The Contaminated Sites Rehabilitation Project will clean-up two former iodine production sites in Ramany and Surakhani; build a special radioactive materials storage facility; carry out national mapping of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM); and develop and partially implement a plan to clean 1,000 hectares of land. The Large Scale Oil Polluted Land Clean-up Project will help the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) to carry out a large-scale cleanup of oil polluted land by providing soil cleaning equipment. The Integrated Solid Waste Management Project will help to build the capacity of a new Solid Waste Management Company, improve the existing official solid waste disposal site and close and clean-up informal dumps. The project will also supply waste collection equipment to five suburban districts of Baku. These three projects represent the first phase of the Absheron Environmental Program to address the most urgent environmental concerns in Absheron. A substantial portion of these projects will be devoted to building long-term local capacity in the country to deal with complex environmental issues, ensure interagency coordination and raise public awareness. Azerbaijan joined the World Bank in 1992. Since then, commitments to the country total approximately US$ 2 323,7 million for 45 operations. - | 
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