CONSTRUCTION OF NORTH-SOUTH TRANSPORT CORRIDOR MAY BE LAUNCHED LATER THIS YEAR

/ARKA/
JUNE 24, 2011
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, June 24. /ARKA/. Construction of North-South transport
corridor may be launched later this year, Armenian Economy Minister
Tigran Davtyan said Friday at a news conference.

A day earlier, Armenian National Assembly ratified a $170-million
loan agreement signed between the Armenian government and the Asian
Development Bank on May 30, 2011 to implement the second component
of the program of the construction program. this money would be
spent for rehabilitation of 41 kilometers of Ashtarak-Talin road,
a section of North-South corridor.

Since an international tender announced by the government to select
a company for building an 18 kilometer section of the road corridor
between the capital city Yerevan, and Ashtarak to the north, the first
phase of North-South Road Corridor project, did not reveal a winner,
that section will be joined with the section between Ashtarak and
Talin and a new tender will be announced in late June. “It means new
jobs will be created, tax inflow will intensify and GDP will grow”,
Davtyan said.

The program and the $500-million agreement with the Asian Development
Bank were approved by the Armenian government on January 14, 2010.

The aim of the program is to connect Armenian northern areas with
southern town of Meghri, on the border with Iran, and ensure access
to world markets. The road will make Armenia a transit state in
transportation of the region countries’ cargoes.