ArmInfo.On November 6, Deputy Ministers of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia Kristine Ghalechyan and Armen Simonyan presented the priorities of Armenia-Iran cooperation to the delegation headed by the Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) Mehdi Sobhani.
As reported by the press service of the Ministry of Territorial Administration of the Republic of Armenia, the Iranian delegation arrived in Yerevan as part of an expert seminar under the motto "Armenia-Iran. The process and new prospects of cooperation".
The Ambassador of the IRI thanked for the meeting and added that the Iranian experts present at the meeting are people who have serious influence in Iran in terms of forming opinions regarding Armenia. Simonyan, who coordinates the transport sector, noted that there is successful cooperation with Iran in the field of air transport. He also emphasized the importance of organizing bilateral cargo transportation by Armenian and Iranian companies. In addition, Simonyan emphasized the need to develop cooperation in the field of railway transport.
In turn, Kristine Galechyan noted the importance of building a new bridge on the Meghri border section. She also spoke about the North-South ITC and presented the Crossroads of the World project. Let us recall that the new 60-kilometer Sisian-Kajaran road will be of the second technical category. It will pass through a difficult mountainous terrain, will include 27 bridges with a total length of 4.7 km and 9 tunnels with a total length of 12.5 km (the longest Bargushat tunnel is about 8.6 km long). The pre-qualification stage of the international tender for this project has been completed, with 23 companies from Europe, China and other countries submitting applications. Of the total financial assistance package from the EU to Armenia in the amount of 2.6 billion euros, 600 million euros will be allocated for the construction of the Kajaran- Sisian road over the next five years. Another 150 million dollars will be provided by the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development. The 60 km long section of the road will have a design speed of 80 km/h.
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 to European countries through the territory of Armenia (Meghri-Kapan-Goris-Yerevan-Ashtarak-Gyumri-Bavra) and Georgia. The construction of the corridor was initially planned to be completed in 2019. The cost of the program was constantly revised upwards. Meanwhile, in September 2012, when the construction of the highway began, the amount named by representatives of the Armenian government was several times less - $962 million, today we are talking about investments of about $3 billion.
