Preliminary results of the reclamation of oil-contaminated land in Azerbaijan will be seen in five years

Preliminary results of the reclamation of oil-contaminated land on the Absheron Peninsula will be seen in five to six years. This was announced by Azerbaijan's Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, Huseyngulu Baghirov.
According to him, extensive work on the reclamation of oil-contaminated land on the Absheron Peninsula is being carried out by the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR). The Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) is also working in this area: "Within the next 5-6 years it will be possible to see the results of this work; the reclaimed areas will cover dozens of hectares."
The minister noted that construction on oil-contaminated land is a negative factor: "Evaporation is taking place in these areas, and construction work cannot be carried out here. This must be prevented. Such cases do occur, but at the same time they are being fought."
It should be noted that the government of Azerbaijan, together with the World Bank (WB), is currently implementing a project to clean up oil-contaminated land on the Absheron Peninsula. The WB will allocate 164 million dollars to the project. Within the framework of the 3-stage project, the WB will allocate 74 million dollars to the MES for the cleanup of radioactive waste, 60 million dollars to SOCAR for the purchase of equipment to clean up 1000 ha, and 29.5 million dollars as assistance in household waste management.

To recall, the total area of oil-contaminated land on the Absheron Peninsula is 33.3 thousand ha, of which 15 thousand ha are on the balance sheet of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan. SOCAR has allocated 63 million manats for the cleanup and reclamation of the land, and 18.5 million manats have been allocated from the state budget.

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