Friday, February 22 2019 12:58

ArmInfo. The construction of the first section of the interstate highway (M-6) leading from Armenia to the Georgian border has been completed. Deputy Minister of  Transport, Communications and Information Technologies of the  Republic of Armenia Bagrat Badalyan and Gegham Vardanyan informed  this yesterday at the meeting with the delegation of the European  Investment Bank (EIB) headed by the head of the regional  representation of the EIB in the South Caucasus Maciej Czura.

According to the press service of the Ministry, during the meeting,  representatives of the Bank were informed that a solemn opening  ceremony of this road section would take place in the near future.   Construction work was carried out according to the previously  approved schedule, and the company supervising the implementation of  the project assures quality work.

As for the construction of the Talin-Landzhik road (the third  tranche), which is part of the North-South road corridor, Armenian  officials noted, progress is evident in the project, but the  construction process itself is still unsatisfactory. The parties  discussed a number of issues related to work in the third tranche,  expressing the hope that the existing problems will soon find their  solution. Speaking about additional opportunities for interaction in  road construction, Bagrat Badalyan presented to the guests a number  of details on the construction of the southern section of the  North-South road (Tranche-4), emphasizing the peculiarity, importance  and significance of this part of the road. The meeting also discussed  the possibility of the participation of the EIB in high-tech  projects. Deputy Minister Gegham Vardanyan informed the  representatives of the bank about the ongoing construction program of  the Engineering City, presented the details of the project to create  a "National Venture Fund", as well as steps to develop digital  ecosystems in Armenia. At the meeting, it was agreed that the Bank  will be provided with more detailed information on these proposals  for more thorough study and decision-making.  Earlier, ArmInfo  reported that in the section of the North-South transport corridor -  Yerevan-Artashat, which was commissioned at the end of 2015, pits  were formed, and in some sections - cracks. Meanwhile, according to  the actual estimate of $ 2 million for 1 km. the road was supposed to  be great. Work on this site was performed by the Spanish company  "Corsan Corviam". The situation is no better in the Talin- Landzhik  section, which is being built by the Chinese company Sinohidro  Corporation, which has committed numerous violations. Meanwhile, only  in 2018, $ 47 million was allocated to continue the construction of  the North-South transport corridor. The funds were raised as loans  from the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank and the  Eurasian Development Bank, and another 2.8 billion drams received as  a grant from the European Investment Bank. The main work front in  2019 will unfold on 84 km of the highway, on which it is planned to  lay concrete at 40-45 km. The works, in particular, will be carried  out on the section of the road from Ashtarak to Gyumri. As a result,  the road will expand from 2 lanes to 4, and instead of asphalt,  concrete will be laid. According to current calculations, the  construction of the entire 556-kilometer North-South highway, which  stretches from Bavra to Meghri, will cost more than $ 2 billion,  since only its southern section, between the cities of Artashat and  Meghri, will cost $ 1.5 billion.  Meanwhile, five years ago, in  September 2012, when the construction of the highway began, the  amount that representatives of the Armenian government called was  more than half as less - $ 962 million. Today, $ 150.3 million and  23.14 million euros have been spent. At the moment, only a 31 km  section was built and modernized, for which $ 70 million was spent.  The remaining amount was allocated to carry out excavation work on  the Ashtarak-Talin and Talin-Gyumri sections. Work was also carried  out on concreting the road at 11 km. The construction of the corridor  was originally planned to be completed in 2019, but now the dates are  delayed by 5-10 years. Under the "North-South" program, the Armenian  government calculated a preliminary saving of $ 2.5 per hour for each  passenger and $ 1 per hour for transporting a ton of cargo. As the  authorities of Armenia expect, the program will allow the country to  mitigate the consequences of the blockade from Azerbaijan and Turkey  in the future, to play the role of a transit state in cargo  transportation of the countries of the region, and also to join the  Black Sea ring highway.