Construction of new Yerevan underground station to be launched next  year - minister 

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.