Armenia starts North-South Highway construction

Armenia is startingthe  construction of the North-South Highway financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) today, News Georgia reports.

Armenian Minister for Transportation and Communication Gagik Beglaryan met Ramon Aige of the Corsan Corvian Construccion (Spain), representing the contractor of construction, on Tuesday.

The highway will be 556 km long giving access to the Black Sea and European states using the Megri-Kapan-Goris-Yerevan-Ashtarak-Gyumri-Bavra route and Georgia.

Armenia approved the tender for construction on April 26, RIA Novosti reports.

The investment program worth $500 million was approved by the Armenian government on January 14, 2010. The North-South Corridor program is worth $1 billion. The Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) wants to pay $50-70 million for its realization while Armenia will co-finance $462 million.

The Europe-Caucasus-Asia connection on the crossing of Eastern Europe and Western Asia will be completed in 2017.

Realization of the program will save $2.5 per hour for each passenger and $1 per hour for a ton of cargo.

The North-South Corridor was initiated by Russia and Iran. The Russia-Iran-India route will be improved.