RUSSIAN RAILWAYS WINS TENDER IN ARMENIA
ITAR-TASS, Russia
Jan 16 2007
YEREVAN, January 16 (Itar-Tass) -The Russian Railways Company will be
officially named on Wednesday as the winner of an international tender
for the concessional management of the Armenian Railways Company for
a period of 30 years. A ceremony with the participation of Russian
Railways President Vladimir Yakunin will be held in Yerevan.
The terms of the concession provide for 170-million-dollar investments,
but Russian Railways offered a far great sum – 570 million dollars
of investments, with 230 million dollars to be invested in the coming
five years.
According to Armenian Minister of Transport and Communication Andranik
Manukyan, the investments of Russian Railways will be even greater,
if the border with Turkey is opened, and railway traffic to Armenia
by the Azerbaijani railway and via Abkhazia is resumed.
Russian Railways will contribute 5.5 million dollars to the Armenian
budget as a one-time concession payment. Under the terms of the lease,
Russian Railways will allocate 2 per cent of its annual turnover to
the Armenian budget, along with current taxes and fees.
Manukyan reminded that the Armenian Railways Company would continue
to be the property of the Armenian government, and Russian Railways
would only manage it.
The Armenian railway was built on the order of the government of
the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th century. The first
train came from Tiflis (now Tbilisi) to Alexandropol (later Leninakan,
now Gyumri) in February 1899 after covering 220 kilometres. A total
length of the railways belonging to the Armenian Railways Company is
1,125 kilometres. It includes 75 railway terminals and four terminals
on the border with Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey.
The annual capacity of Armenian Railways is three million tons of
cargoes and five million passengers. A through capacity of the Airum
railway terminal, on the border with Georgia, is 30 pairs of trains
a day. According to forecasts of transport specialists, railway
transportation in Armenia will be doubled by 2010.