Azerbaijan
Thomas Goltz (“How the Other Half Lives in Oil-Rich Azerbaijan,†Opinion, Nov. 23) states that “a World Bank project is shoveling tens of millions of dollars to reconstruct homes in the one area ‘liberated’ from Armenian occupation by the Azeri forces in spring 1994.†This statement is incorrect. The World Bank is not currently funding, nor has it funded, the construction of any houses in Fizuli region or elsewhere in Azerbaijan.
The World Bank is assisting the government of Azerbaijan and other governments of the South Caucasus to develop reconstruction programs to help restore economic and social infrastructure to a region ravaged by wars and civil strife. Although the reconstruction program for Azerbaijan is still being prepared, there are no plans to include housing in the component to be financed by the World Bank.
ISHRAT HUSAIN, Director
Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan
and Aral Sea Country Unit
World Bank, Washington
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