Azerbaijan Tenders $1.1 Billion Caspian Port as Seeks to Be Hub

Azerbaijan announced a $1.1 billion tender to build a port as the energy-rich former Soviet republic seeks to become a hub for trade between Europe and Central Asia, with interest from companies from France, Holland and Sri Lanka.

The port, designed by Netherlands-based Royal Haskoning BV, will be built in the village of Alat, about 66 kilometers (40 miles) south of the capital of Baku, said Sadraddin Mammadov, a Transport Ministry official overseeing the project.

The harbor would be the largest in the Caspian Sea and the building of the first of three stages by May 2014 may cost $690 million, Mammadov said in an interview. Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors BV started dredging at the site last year.

Source: Bloomberg