ArmInfo. On March 14, Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan received the director of the Italian group of companies ANAS, Gianni Vitorio Armani.
According to the press service of the Government, during the meeting, the issue of the possibility of involving the Italian company in the construction of the North-South highway was discussed. In particular, according to the source, Gianni Vitorio Armani stressed that the company is interested in participating in the public-private partnership project in the construction and operation of the Sisian-Qajaran road section.
Prime Minister of Armenia, welcoming the initiative of the Italian company, noted that the Armenian government attaches importance to the implementation of the much-needed infrastructure project, and is ready to cooperate with the Italian company. The head of the Armenian government offered to discuss the details of this initiative with the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies of the Republic of Armenia, and submit the results of the talks to the government apparatus.
ANAS is the leading company in Italy for the construction of roads, autobahns, highways and railways. Almost all important transport projects in Italy are being realized with the participation of this company.
Recall that the construction of the Sisian-Kajaran highway is part of the project to create a transport corridor "North-South" with a total length of 556 km, which will provide access to the Black Sea and European countries through the territory of Armenia (Meghri-Kapan-Goris-Yerevan-Ashtarak- Gyumri-Bavra) and Georgia. The $ 1.5 billion investment program is aimed at securing communication between the north (the border with Georgia) and southern Armenia (the border with Iran) through transport communications that meet high international standards and access to world markets. The road will be covered with concrete. To implement the project, Armenia raised a loan from the Asian Development Bank in the amount of $ 500 million. Another $ 150 million will be provided by the Eurasian Development Bank. The Armenian side also attracted 60 million euros from the European Investment Bank for the implementation of the project. The construction of the corridor is planned to be completed in 2019. Under the "North-South" program, the Armenian government calculated the preliminary savings 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 in the future to mitigate the consequences of the blockade by Azerbaijan and Turkey, to play the role of a transit state in the freight transportation of the countries of the region, and also to join the Black Sea ring highway.