Armenia`s minister of territorial administration, KfW rep discuss  Kaps reservoir construction

ArmInfo. Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure (MTAI) of Armenia David Khudatyan discussed with the Director of the German Development Bank (KfW) for  Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia Veronica Garcia del Arco  the problems that arose during the implementation of the Cape  Reservoir construction program.

As reported by the MTAI press service, the meeting with the KfW  director was held remotely, during which the progress of joint  programs was discussed. Touching upon the Cape Reservoir program, the  parties considered issues of ensuring progress in its implementation.  During the discussions, the public infrastructure development program  was also touched upon.

According to the source, the discussion was attended by Director of  the Territorial Development Fund Sargis Baghinyan, representative of  the Armenian office of KfW Zara Chatinyan and other partners.

The Kap reservoir, unfinished due to the 1988 earthquake, with a  design capacity of 110 million cubic meters of water, is located in  the Shirak region, 22 km northwest of the city of Gyumri in the  Akhuryan River valley. According to the loan agreement between the  Republic of Armenia and the German bank dated December 19, 2014,  "Combined Water Resources Management/Akhuryan River Stage 1" for 50  million euros, about 41.9 million euros are currently available.  However, due to the high price bid of 61.5 million euros (excluding  contingencies and taxes) received in the tender for the construction  of the Kaps Reservoir and auxiliary facilities, in agreement with the  Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of the  Federal Republic of Germany (BMZ), it was decided to fill the  financing gap for the construction of the Kaps Reservoir using  financial resources in the amount of 17.4 million euros available for  construction from the loan of 18.5 million euros within the framework  of Phase 2 of the project. The remaining part of the missing amount  of 2.2 million euros (excluding VAT) will be covered by financial  resources allocated by the Government of the Republic of Armenia.

On May 18, 2023, the foundation of the reservoir was officially laid.  The total budget of the project is 95.2 million euros, including  borrowed funds - 68.5 million euros. At the first stage, it was  planned to build a reservoir with a total volume of 25 million cubic  meters with a further increase in the maximum volume of the reservoir  to 60 million cubic meters. The construction will be carried out by  the Chinese company Shanxi Construction Investment Group. The level  of water supply to the Shirak main and Akhuryan right- bank canals  and about 17,000 hectares of land under their management will also be  increased. In addition, it will be possible to replace mechanical  irrigation of 2,280 hectares of land with gravity irrigation, which  will save 1.3 million kWh of electricity annually. With a reservoir  volume of 60 million cubic meters. it will be possible to increase  the area of irrigated land in the Shirak region by another 920  hectares, and in the Talin district of the Aragatsotn region, to  replace mechanical irrigation of about 6,600 hectares of land with  gravity irrigation, which will save 11 million kWh of electricity  annually. The program is being implemented by the Territorial  Development Fund of Armenia.