ArmInfo. Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, during a meeting with the delegation led by the Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran Mehrdad Bazrpash, welcomed their productive visit to Armenia, within the framework of which a contract was signed for the construction of the Kajaran-Agarak section of the North-South highway.
According to the press service of the RA Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan noted that this will be one of the largest projects implemented between the two countries. The Prime Minister expressed hope that the volume of bilateral projects will constantly expand. In particular, he added that the RA government is implementing large capital projects and the Armenian side is interested in cooperation with Iranian companies in their implementation.
Mehrdad Bazrpash noted that the construction of the Kajaran-Agarak road section will be carried out by one of the large Iranian companies, and expressed confidence that the project will be implemented efficiently and on time. According to the Iranian minister, other Iranian companies are also ready to participate in infrastructure development projects in Armenia. At the same time, he noted that, for its part, Iran is interested in attracting Armenian companies to large-scale housing construction projects in the country. Mehrdad Bazrpash expressed confidence that the construction of the North-South transit highway will contribute to the expansion of regional cargo transportation volumes and the development of economic ties.
During the meeting, an exchange of views on the possibilities of unblocking regional infrastructure based on the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty, jurisdiction and reciprocity took place.
Earlier today, representatives of Armenia and Iran, represented by Gor Avetisyan Executive Director of the Road Department Fund of Armenia, as well as Ali Mousavi and Alen Yousefian, representatives of Abad Rahan Pars International Group and Tunnel Sadd Ariana joint venture signed an agreement on the construction of the Vardanidzor road up to the tunnel exit (about 11 km) and reconstruction of the Agarak-Vardanidzor road (about 21 km) within the framework of Tranche 4 of the North-South Road Corridor Investment Program.
After reconstruction, this section of the road will comply with advanced international standards, both in the context of road safety and in terms of reducing travel time. In particular, this section will have 5 new intersections, 6 overpasses, 2 new tunnels with a total length of 920 m. and 17 new bridges. The project is financed with loans from the Eurasian Development Bank with co-financing from the Republic of Armenia. Construction work will start at the end of 2023 and will last for 3 years. The North-South project will reduce the distance from the Iranian border to the Georgian border from 556 to 490 km. 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. Construction of the corridor was originally scheduled to be completed in 2019. The cost of the project has constantly increased. In September 2012, when the construction of the highway began, the amount indicated by the representatives of the RA government was several times less: 962 million dollars, while today we are talking about investments of about 3 billion dollars.
