Armenia will provide $49.9 million from the Anti-Crisis Fund for
construction of the VanadzorFioletovo railway, Armenian Minister of
Transport and Communication Manuk Vardanyan said on Tuesday, Arka
reports.
He noted that other 50% of the project will be covered using Russian
investments, according to the deal on parity financing.
The minister said that the project is worth $100 million, but the
exact sum of expenses will be known after the works, which are planned
to start in autumn.
A tender for technical-economic basis of the project was announced in
2010. It will be concluded in spring 2011.
The negotiations of the concessionaire South Caucasus Railway with the
Russian Railways allowed the project to be added to the plans of the
concessionaire. It will be the first real railway construction project
in Armenia in the last 40 years.
The South Caucasus Railway will invest 13.5 billion drams into
construction of the Vanadzor-Fioletovo railway to Loriyskiy District
of Armenia in 2011.
The Vanadzor-Fioletovo railway section will be 31.2 km long and is
worth approximately $100 million.
Its construction is a priority of the Transport Ministry of Armenia in
2011. It will connect Agstaf-Idzhevan-Razdan-Yerevan railway with the
Tbilisi-Gumri-Masis railway, reducing the interregional and interstate
freights. The Yerevan-Ayrum section will be reduced by 70-100 km.
The South Caucasus Railway is a 100% subsidiary of the Russian
Railways. It carries out concessional management of Armenian Railway.
A concessional agreement was signed on February 13, 2008. It lasts 30
years and can be prolonged by 10 years. ($1 - 366.51 drams).
