EN
2 July 2009 - 15:32 AMT

Concept of high-speed highways and North-South railways presented in Yerevan

The construction of high-speed highways and Iran-Armenia railway will help Armenia to become a transit country, Gurgen Sargsyan, the RA Minister of Transport and Communication of Armenia said today. According to him, the projects will ensure stable and fast communication between ports of Persian Gulf and the Black Sea. The construction of high-speed highways and Iran-Armenia railway will help to cut expenses of Armenian producers, exporters and importers.
The minister informed, that Georgia, Iran, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, as well as international organizations have become interested in those projects.

The Asian Development Bank discusses the possible grant for the feasibility study of the Iran-Armenia railway. Thus, the mission of the Asian Development Bank will visit Armenia next week to finalize negotiations over the grant.

According to the feasibility study, 88 kilometers of the Ashtarak-Gyumri highway turn into the first level highway. As the minister informed, that construction of the Ashtarak-Gyumri highway is projected to immense in 2010.

Gurgen Sargsyan recalled that, given the importance of the construction and the interests of all stakeholders, a working group is established at the level of deputy transport ministers of Armenia, Iran and Russia.  The issue of construction of the Iran-Armenia railway was on the agenda of the Armenian-Georgian intergovernmental committee, RA transport minister said.

Presentation of the concept of high-speed highways and North-South railways held in Yerevan. The event was initiated by the Ministry of Transport and Communications of Armenia and Hayastan All-Armenian Fund. The concept of the railway network development of Armenia was elaborated by the large German-Austrian auditing company iLF with financial support of OJSC Concern MON-ARKH.