Construction of section of Sisian-Kajaran road in Syunik region of  Armenia will cost more than $ 1 billion

ArmInfo. Armenia has launched a program for the construction of a section of the Sisisan-Kajaran road in the Syunik region of the republic. On September 24, the  Armenian government approved this investment program within the  framework of the Investment Program of the North-South Transport  Corridor: Tranche-4 and the specifics of organizing the  prequalification procedure.

According to Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and  Infrastructure of Armenia Vache Terteryan, the approval of the  project will allow starting the solution of some procedural issues  and thus complete the tenders and the procurement process by the end  of 2022. This, in turn, will make it possible to launch the program  itself, the deputy minister said.

According to him, the priority of the program for the RA authorities  is obvious - the road providing access to the Iranian border is of  strategic importance. The road will be built in accordance with  modern quality standards, it will reliably, safely and quickly  connect the southern regions of Armenia with the central ones.

So, as the deputy minister said, the length of the road section will  be about 60 km with a permitted speed of about 100 km / h. Bridges  with a total length of 4.7 km and tunnels with a total length of 12.5  km will be built. One of them, as Terteryan pointed out, the 8.6 km  long Bargushat tunnel, will become a unique construction not only by  Armenian standards.

The cost of the program for the construction part alone will amount  to 474.3 billion drams (slightly less than $ 1 billion), including  VAT, and the total cost will be 487 billion drams.

The program has already passed the expertise and environmental impact  assessment (EIA), a positive conclusion has been received. The  project submitted to the government's court, as the deputy minister  explained, regulates the specifics of the procurement process for  construction and engineering works, the alienation of land for the  program. "And, since the implementation of the program envisages  active cooperation with the international partners of the Republic of  Armenia, synchronization, harmonization of the national legislation  of Armenia with the legal regulations of partners will be required,  and these features, among other things, relate to these tasks," he  explained.

Earlier, in July 2021, acting Minister of Territorial Administration  and Infrastructures of Armenia Suren Papikyan stated that the  European Union intends to allocate 600 million euros to Armenia for  the construction of the Sisian-Kajaran section of the North-South  highway. This amount, according to him, will allow to announce a  tender for  the construction of this section in August. At the same  time,  Papikyan noted that even without EU funding, the Armenian  government  was ready to announce a tender for the construction of  the site,  since the design and estimate documentation is already  fully prepared. In the absence of other sources of funding, as noted  by the  acting Minister, the government would use its own funds for  the  tender. "But now it is very good that additional resources have   appeared, now we will understand how to organize everything," he   said.  The official also recalled the interest of the Iranian side in  the  construction work of the southern section along the line of  building  bridges and tunnels. In this regard, he noted that  elections were  completed in the Islamic Republic of Iran yesterday  and a new government is being formed, after which negotiations on  this topic  will continue.  In total, according to Papikyan, only $  1.2 billion will be required  for the construction of tunnels in the  southern section to Kajaran,  and another $ 250 million - to the town  of Agarak.  

To note, 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 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  corridor was originally planned to be completed in 2019. The cost of  the program was constantly revised upward. Meanwhile, in September  2012, when the construction of the highway began, the amount that was  called by representatives of the Armenian government was several  times less - $ 962 million