Friendship Bridge to be constructed at Georgian-Armenian border

ArmInfo. On the Georgian-Armenian border (Sadakhlo- Bagratashen), the construction of the Friendship Bridge across the Debed River begins. This is stated in the message of the Department of Roads of the Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia.

The department reports that a construction company has already been chosen, which will build a bridge and now a selection company is being selected.  "The" bridge of friendship "is being built with the support of the Armenian and Georgian governments, funded by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which allocated 6 million euros for its implementation.  "The common bridge construction project is unique for the region: one part of the bridge will be on the territory of Georgia and the second one will be Armenia." The sides shared and financing - Armenia will pay 50% of the loan, and the remaining 50% will be Georgia, "the report said.  At the same time, it is emphasized that the new bridge will allow motorists to move unhindered along the East-West and North-South transit corridors.  Recall that the agreement on the construction of the "Bridge of Friendship" between Armenia and Georgia was signed on December 24, 2014.

But on November 23, 2012 Armenia and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development signed an agreement on financing the construction of a new bridge on the main border checkpoint between Armenia and Georgia in Bagratashen. Under the agreement, the EBRD provided Armenia with a loan of EUR 10.3 million, which is the EBRD's contribution to financing the modernization program for the Northern Corridor.The Northern Corridor Renewal Program includes the modernization of the existing infrastructure to ensure their compliance with international criteria, as well as the construction of new buildings at three border control points. Improved border crossings (PPC Bavra, Bagratashen and Gogavan) will be equipped with the appropriate equipment for the maintenance of vehicles and passengers, and to have a more effective and more power. In addition, they will act as multi-way road checkpoints for international freight and passenger traffic. According to preliminary estimates, the project will cost the Armenian side 4 million euros. The loan will be granted for a period of 15 years, of which the first three years will be discounted with floating interest rate for each tranche separately on each half of the year. As a result of the program, people will pass through the checkpoint from 15 minutes to 5 minutes, and cargo from 75 minutes to 25 minutes. Earlier, the Armenian parliament had already ratified the agreement with the European Investment Bank for the amount of 30.316 million euros.In general, the implementation of the project of Armenia intends to attract credit funds amounting to 56.73 million euros, of which, in addition to the above-noted, 12 million euros is expected to receive from the fund Neighborhood Policy, 3.3 million in grants from the EU and 0.8 million euro in the form of a grant - from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).