$ 3 billion will be allocated from the state budget for the 4th  tranche of the North-South road

ArmInfo. The Ministry of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of Armenia hopes to start construction work on the 4th tranche of the North-South road  construction program next year. This was stated by the deputy acting  Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures of the  Republic of Armenia Christine Ghalechyan.

According to her, the 4th tranche consists of 3 sections  (Artashat-Sisian, Sisian-Kajaran, Kajaran-Agarak) with a length of  352 km. For these purposes, $ 3 billion will be allocated from the  state budget.  Initially, she said, it is planned to begin  construction work on the Kajaran-Agarak section, 42 km long. It was  noted that this road will be asphalt and not concrete. Design work on  this site, according to the Deputy Minister, is coming to an end. "In  June, the final detailed design will be ready, and after all the  necessary examinations have been carried out, we will announce a  tender for construction," she said.

In addition, according to the project, the longest tunnels will be  built on this section, in particular Barbushat - 9 km, Kajaran - 7  km. For the construction of the tunnels, as noted by Christine  Ghalechyan, $ 300 million will be allocated. "If this project is  implemented, the road traffic will be reduced by 2.5 hours," she  said. Speaking about the current work under the North-South program,  the deputy head of the department said that the next tranche under  the North-South program in the Ararat region was completed the day  before, a section with a length of 19.6 km.

At the same time, she announced that the Iranian side is interested  in participating in construction work under this program.

To recall, on April 14, 2015, the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) and  the Armenian government signed an agreement on an investment loan  from the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development in the  amount of $ 150 million to finance the construction of the southern  section of the North-South road corridor (Tranche-4). The initial  timing of the project was delayed and changes were made to the  agreement, both in terms of the timing of the project and the terms  of loan repayment.  Note that the North-South project will reduce the  distance from the Iranian border to the Georgian border from 556 to  490 kilometers.

The road will significantly facilitate access to the Black Sea not  only for Armenia, but also for Iran. The project is initially funded  with a loan from the Asian Development Bank. A corresponding  agreement with ADB on the provision of half a billion dollars was  signed by the Armenian government in September 2009.  Subsequently,  the EFSD joined the project, agreeing to provide $ 150 million.  It  was envisaged that the construction of the highway would be completed  first in 2016, then in 2019, but to date, only a part of the work has  been completed and the terms of the project have been postponed again  by 5-10 years. As a result, a 31 km section was commissioned.

As expected by the Armenian authorities, the program will allow  Armenia to play the role of a transit state in the cargo  transportation of the countries of the region, as well as to join the  Black Sea Ring Highway.  Last year, the project was temporarily  suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.