The busses in Baku

Or more precisely: the lack of busses in Baku. Those that can be found are expensive, imported ones, that do not necessarily fit the requirements of this bustling city. So: how much public money has been spent on these imports?

By Farah Sabirgizi

Posted November 8th, 2009

Since October 2008 there has been a lack of busses on a large number of routes in Baku. Back then the Ministry of Transportation initiated a new programme involving the import of modern busses from abroad to replace ageing Soviet ones. Under the programme private operators have purchased several hundred imported busses with subsidies from the government. There’s great uncertainty, however, as to the exact number of imported vehicles and the price paid for these imports. Apparently the authorities have been paying through the nose for busses from Belarus, Germany and South Korea. Busses bought from MAN in Germany were priced at a 20 per cent premium compared to the cost elsewhere.

Some reports suggest that the busses imported from South Korea came at twice the price quoted by some Korean sources. It’s unclear why this has happened and who may have benefited from such pricing practices.
What is clear, however, is that many of the newly imported busses are unfit for navigating the congested and often narrow streets of the capital. Drivers are complaining that the vehicles are too large and that spare parts are prohibitively expensive.

As for the local passengers many have given up on the bus service, including the reporter herself, who now goes to work by foot. 

This radio emission was broadcast by Radio Liberty on June 3. www.azadliq.org
and can be found here.To read the original transcript, please click here.