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Lesson
Mobilizing local project management expertise can be beneficial. The modification of the project management consulting contract to increase the inputs of national staff proved beneficial. Local and national staff who work closely with experienced international consultants as part of a team of a competitively selected consulting firm have the opportunity to acquire skills and hone them. This is good and in line with ADB's capacity development objectives in developing member countries.

Project Number: 42401-014
Project Name: Power Distribution Enhancement Investment Program (Multitranche Financing Facility)
Report Date:
Lesson
A rational tariff policy is essential for improving the financial viability of a distribution utility. Two tariff revisions (in 2016 and 2021) helped improve the financial viability of Azerishiq's distribution-strengthening projects. Although the upgrade of distribution systems is still not fully financially viable, an improving financial internal rate of return (into positive territory) illustrates the benefits of lifting tariffs toward full cost recovery.

Project Number: 42401-014
Project Name: Power Distribution Enhancement Investment Program (Multitranche Financing Facility)
Report Date:
Lesson
Insufficient up-to-date macroeconomic data on government websites, which could hinder timely and effective planning especially during crisis periods, needs to be rectified. The State Statistical Committee (SSC) has numerous macroeconomic indicators on its website. However, in most cases, very recent data are missing. International organizations such as ADB, the IMF and the World Bank release forecasts of macroeconomic indicators for upcoming years, and SSC should consider following the same approach.

Project Number: 55073-001
Project Name: COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Accessibility of healthcare data in Azerbaijan needs to be improved. Reports from the Ministry of Health Care are not publicly available on its website. In addition, the State Agency for Mandatory Health Insurance considers healthcare information to be highly sensitive. Accordingly, this information is not contained on its website. Information related to daily coronavirus infections and vaccinations was released publicly. It would be useful for the agency to disseminate gender, age, and region-disaggregated information to the public.

Project Number: 55073-001
Project Name: COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Sex-disaggregated data need to be accurate and usable for in-depth analyses to support policy development and program planning and implementation. The government has increased its focus on gender equality and has made significant progress on gender data tracking and transparency. Although there are a few publicly available national resources, they lack qualitative information.

Project Number: 55073-001
Project Name: COVID-19 Active Response and Expenditure Support Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Outcome indicators that do not measure the achievement of outcomes and that are only indirectly linked to the desired outcomes weaken the attainment of objectives.

Project Number: 51059-001, 51059-002
Project Name: Improved Fiscal and Infrastructure
Management Program
Report Date:
Lesson
Outcome objectives did not directly link to policy actions and to outputs and therefore were not attained. If the outcome objectives are not closely linked to outputs and are overly ambitious, it is difficult to achieve a satisfactory outcome.

Project Number: 51059-001, 51059-002
Project Name: Improved Fiscal and Infrastructure
Management Program
Report Date:
Lesson
The partial credit guarantee (PCG) modality was a good choice for this transaction. It enabled ADB sovereign operations to come as close as possible to enabling the IA to obtain commercial financing for a commercially viable project in a country with a below-investment-grade rating. With a One ADB approach, it showed the way to achieve close and collaborative work between ADB’s sovereign and nonsovereign departments. Its 95% cover was important because it facilitated the raising of commercial finance.

Project Number: 49451-002
Project Name: Shah Deniz Gas Field Expansion Project
Report Date:
Lesson
ADB played an important role in country risk mitigation. ADB’s partial credit guarantee (PCG) to the Southern Gas Corridor Closed Joint-Stock Company (SGC) made possible SGC’s access to necessary private sector refinancing to meet its financial commitments to Shah Deniz Stage II (SD2) and the midstream pipelines. This reduced government dependence on the country’s dwindling oil and gas revenues held by the State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) to meet expenditure obligations.

Project Number: 49451-002
Project Name: Shah Deniz Gas Field Expansion Project
Report Date:
Lesson
The Shah Deniz Gas Field Expansion Project is transformational. It has expanded the development of one of the largest gas fields in the world, which will help (i) more than double gas production from the field; and (ii) increase the country’s gas production by 67% during the same period. This will help strengthen the Azerbaijani economy and create more fiscal space for economic diversification.

Project Number: 49451-002
Project Name: Shah Deniz Gas Field Expansion Project
Report Date:
Lesson
It is important for a reform program to be supported by and anchored in a broad strategic framework that brings together both qualitative and quantitative indicators to drive, monitor, and assess the attainment of policy outcomes.

Project Number: 51059-001, 51059-002
Project Name: Improving Governance and Public Sector Efficiency Program (Subprogram 1 and Subprogram 2)
Report Date:
Lesson
Improving governance and increasing public sector efficiency requires sequenced steps over the medium-term, strong country ownership of reforms, and adequate technical assistance (TA) support.

Project Number: 51059-001, 51059-002
Project Name: Improving Governance and Public Sector Efficiency Program (Subprogram 1 and Subprogram 2)
Report Date:
Lesson
In addition, contractors are encouraged to improvise where possible and introduce new technology standards. Subsequent tranches should also build upon lessons learnt and issues identified in the technical specifications for the initial tranche.

Project Number: 42401-015
Project Name: Power Distribution Enhancement Investment Program - Tranche 1
Report Date:
Lesson
To achieve higher quality and improved technology, it is crucial that the design, technical specifications, and construction standards are based on national and international best practice.

Project Number: 42401-015
Project Name: Power Distribution Enhancement Investment Program - Tranche 1
Report Date:
Lesson
The restricted stance on public external borrowing led to deferral of MFF’s tranches 2 and 3 that was not present at the time of appraisal. If possible, the locations and routes of the project components for these tranches should be identified upfront and thoroughly analyzed for potential construction and safeguard impacts.

Project Number: 42401-015
Project Name: Power Distribution Enhancement Investment Program - Tranche 1
Report Date: