Wednesday, April 17 2019 15:22

ArmInfo.In 2019, Armenia will  send about 20 billion drams (about $ 41 million) to repair roads of  interstate and republican importance; with a length of 312 km, not  counting construction in the framework of the North-South investment  program and the M6 Vanadzor to Georgia border. Armenian Minister of  Transport, Communications and IT Hakob Arshakyan said this on April  17 at a press conference.

First of all, Hakob Arshakyan explained that the department headed by  him was responsible for the roads of interstate and republican  significance. "I receive hundreds or even thousands of questions  regarding the quality of roads in cities and communities in the  country. I'll ask you to contact municipalities and community  structures with such questions," he said.

As for the responsibility of the Ministry, then, according to  Arshakyan, in 2019 an unprecedented amount of medium and capital  repairs, as well as work to fill the pits on the roads over the last  5 years, is planned.  Thus, according to the plans of the department,  a major overhaul of 78 km roads of interstate and republican  significance is planned this year. Medium repairs are planned for the  Yerevan-Aparan, Shorzha- Vardenis road section, a section of the road  in Jermuk. "The main landmark is that on the road Yerevan and to the  border of Georgia, and in the southern direction - to Meghri, we must  build a two-way high-quality road," he said. Of the planned  allocations to road construction of 20 billion drams, 5 billion drams  will be received within the framework of the World Bank's "Improving  the Road Network of Life Significance" loan program, which will be  used for the medium repairs of roads of about 60 km.

As for ensuring the quality of the roads, then, according to the  minister, since Armenia works with the postpaid system with  contractors, in case of omissions from the builder, the works are  suspended or simply not accepted until the gaps are eliminated. Such  a situation, for example, was with Varmash LLC, which built the  section of the Voskepar-Noyemberyan road. Problems with the quality  of work were identified at the site, and the contractor undertook to  eliminate them. In general, last year, such "improvements" were  measured at 300 million drams.

Thus, as Arshakyan pointed out, the government is closely monitoring  the quality of the construction work being carried out. And since  Armenia aims to become a transit country, the government plans to  tighten control over construction work. "If the work is not carried  out at the proper level, it will not be rewarded - this is the whole  logic. I think this condition ensures that we will not have problems  in the field of road construction," the minister said.

Nevertheless, to say that the republic in the near future will solve  all the problems in the field of road construction, is not necessary.  According to Hakob Arshakyan, according to the analysis of the Asian  Development Bank (ADB) from 2015, in order to maintain the normal  condition of the entire road network and bring it to the proper  level, Armenia needs over 20 billion drams annually.