ArmInfo. Work on the construction of a new Yerevan metro station will begin in 2024, RA Minister of Finance Vahe Hovhannisyan told reporters on October 31.
According to him, the draft state budget of Armenia for 2024 plans to allocate 4 billion drams for the implementation of the program. The minister recalled that in 2021-2022, funds were allocated from the state budget for the development of design estimates for a new station, work on which will be completed at the end of 2023. Accordingly, Hovhannisyan continued, construction work will begin next year.
In addition, as the chief financier noted, the draft state budget provides for an amount that will be used to modernize the Yerevan metro and develop its infrastructure. In particular, as the minister noted, 1.5 billion drams will be spent on re-equipping the metro. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that various credit programs are being implemented at this facility, which are not included in the amount of budget allocations.
At the end of November 2021, it was reported that the leading Russian company Metrogiprotrans won the tender announced by the Yerevan City Hall for the design of the Ajapnyak metro station in the administrative district of the same name in the Armenian capital. The preliminary version of the project involved the construction of a bridge across the Hrazdan River only for the metro, but Metrogiprotrans proposed building a second "floor" for cars and pedestrians.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of Metrohyprotrans Valery Abramson also proposed a metro development project to the Armenian government worth $500 million. "The Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (EXIAR) is ready to support the program on favorable terms. With these funds we will be able to modernize the infrastructure of the old metro, as well as plan those areas of the city towards which stations can be expanded," Abramson said.
If the loan agreement with EXIAR is approved, construction work will last about 1.5 years. According to the plan of the city authorities, the path to the new metro station, 525 meters long, should pass through a tunnel, the construction of which began in Soviet times and remained unfinished. Then the Ajapnyak station remained unfinished; the project included its continuation to the Davidashen district on the northwestern outskirts of the city. The construction project itself covers 3 stages. The first stage involved geological, environmental and other examinations; perhaps already in October the Yerevan City Hall will pay the designer the 545 million drams due to him. Another 300 days are allotted for the implementation of the second and third stages. The total cost of the project could be about $50 million.
