World Bank Document

Processing of project preparation through government institutions causes 

effectiveness delays, the  main reason being that government institutions start with project 

preparation only after it has been approved by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors. The 

government and the WBG have addressed this problem by signing a framework Memorandum of 

Understanding (MOU) in January 2014. The MOU is aimed at expediting the internal preparation 

procedures and advance procurement processes. This should decrease the lag between Board 

approval and project effectiveness from the average of 12 months in FY13 to a period closer to the 

ECA average of three months. The MOU also allows the government to launch major procurement 

at the project preparation stage, thereby significantly shortening the time between project 

effectiveness and first disbursements. However, in practice, the advance procurement was initiated 

only in the Talimarjan Transmission and Pap-Angren Railway projects.