‘NORTH-SOUTH’ MOTORWAY TO COST 962 MILLION USD
Tert.am
30.09.09
Asian Development Bank (ADB) board of directors yesterday approved
a loan of 500 million USD to Armenia for the construction of the
"North-South" motorway. ADB is calling the project the North-South
Road Corridor Investment Program.
The loan contract stipulates that the motorway is to be reconstructed
over a period of seven years and is to connect the Armenian towns
of Agarak, Kapan, Yerevan, and Bavra. This route will connect to
the east-west highway in Georgia which leads to the coastal towns of
Batumi and Poti at the Black Sea, and it will provide Armenia with the
shortest access to the seaports linked to Europe, Russia, and Turkey.
Co-financing from the Government of Armenia will be 462 million
USD; thus, the total cost of the North-South motorway will be 962
million USD.
The project will be implemented in phases, and thus, the ADB loan
(a Multi-Tranche Financing Facility, MFF, according to ADB’s terms)
will be allocated in tranches to Armenia.
The bank’s board of directors already approved 60 million USD for the
first portion (calling it Tranche 1 Project), which will be directed
to improving the durability of and repairing the Yerevan-Ashtarak and
Yerevan-Ararat routes. Armenia’s contribution to this first portion
will be 10 million USD.
The funds have been approved for Armenia for 32 years, with a
eight-year grace period. The annual interest for the grace period
will be 1%, increasing to 1.5% after the period. As to the funds
allocated in future tranches, the terms can be altered.
Meanwhile, Georgia is improving its own roads and consructing new
routes, including the route between Akhalkalaki, Akhaltsikhe, Shuakheri
and Batumi. The newly constructed road will cut the Yerevan-Batumi
700-km route by 30%.
In Georgia, a new road, around 170 km in total, has to be
constructed. This new route will make it possible to go to Batumi
from Yerevan in 5 hours, instead of the current 10-12 hours.
According to ADB, the Investme lerate economic development in Armenia.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress