Thursday, March 24 2016 13:52

ArmInfo. On March 24, the Municipality of Yerevan and the Italian company Serenissima Costruzioni ltd, which won an international tender, signed an agreement on construction of the Argavand-Shirak road. The agreement signed by Mayor of Yerevan Taron Margaryan and President of Serenissima Costruzioni Alberto Brentegani, aims to implement a loan program on construction of the by-pass road.  

Taron Margaryan stressed the importance of the agreement and said that the road construction will make it possible to lessen the load in the center of Yerevan. 

Alberto Brentegani said for his part that the company will conduct its activities in Yerevan for the first time. He added that the operations will be completed within the established deadlines. 

The agreement stipulates construction of a new metal bridge over the river Hrazdan and a 2.7km two-way road. The equipment to be installed under the bridge will prevent the waste water and oil derivatives from penetrating into the river Hrazdan. The new road will be about 24m wide.    

To recall, the Asian Development Bank will provide a 112,960 mln USD loan to Armenia for implementation of the Sustainable Urban Development Investment Program 2. According to Vice Mayor of Yerevan Kamo Areyan, the loan agreement was signed on October 13, 2015 and ratified on February 4, 2016. The program will be implemented till 2020. The loan payment period is 22 years, from which 15 years is a grace period with a floating interest rate in USD plus fixed payments. The payments of the interest will be made twice a year - on May 15 and November 15. The program is the follow-up of the first tranche of the program, under which Armenia attracted 60 mln USD from the ADB. The matter particularly concerns rehabilitation of the roads from Arshakunyats- Bagratunyats crossroad to Noragavit, continuing towards the Artashat highway and joining the North-South road corridor. This part of the project will be finished at the end of 2017. 

It is particularly planned to extend the road from Noragavit to Argavand-Shirak crossroad, then farther to Babajanyan Street in Malatia Sebastia, reaching the Ashtarak highway. The third direction is from the Davitashen bridge to Ashtarak highway. The total length of the main road will be 17 km. 65 mln USD will be spent on construction of the roads, 13 mln USD will be spent on resettlement of the local inhabitants and compensations for property, and 12.6 mln USD - on advisory services. The implementation of the program, which includes applying of energy supply, will allow significantly lessening the burden from Armenia's capital by constructing by-pass routes. It will be equipped with modern signs and facilities.