ArmInfo. 50.5 billion drams will be allocated from the state budget of Armenia to continue the construction of the North-South international road corridor in 2023. Deputy Minister of Territorial and Infrastructures of the Republic of Armenia Vache Terteryan Administration stated this during the hearings in the commissions of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on the draft state budget of the country for 2023.
He noted that special attention will be paid to the northern direction of the road - from Yerevan to Gyumri. Currently, the construction of sections of the Talin-Lanjik and Talin-Gyumri roads with a length of 18.7 and 27.5 km, respectively, continues. As for the Ashtarak-Talin road section, the work on it is half completed, traffic has already been opened unilaterally, and if the current pace of construction is maintained, it is possible that next year the road will be completely ready for operation.
As for the southern section of the corridor, as the deputy minister noted, preparatory work is underway to alienate land for the construction of a 6-kilometer section from Sisian to Kajaran.
Preparations are also underway for the construction of approaches to the Kajaran tunnel with a length of 4 km. A tender to identify the contractor for the project has already been announced. The Eurasian Development Bank will provide 19.5 and 11 billion drams in two tranches for the implementation of the program.
In general, as Terteryan emphasized, 334.6 billion drams will be allocated to the ministry from the state budget of the republic in the next financial year for the implementation of 23 programs and 137 measures.
It should be noted that the construction project of the 40-km Kajaran-Agarak section (Tranche-4) is financed by the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development, which is managed by the Eurasian Development Bank, as well as the state budget of the Republic of Armenia. The reconstructed section of the road with a length of 40 km will be of the second technical category with an estimated speed of 80 km/h. The road section will include 18 bridges, 3 tunnels, the length of the longest of which will be 7.5 km. Heavy vehicles will have their own lane, which will facilitate the transportation of goods.
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 European countries through the territory of Armenia (Meghri-Kapan-Goris-Yerevan-Ashtarak-Gyumri-Bavra) and Georgia. The corridor was originally scheduled to be completed in 2019. The cost of the project was constantly being revised, becoming more expensive. Meanwhile, in September 2012, when the construction of the highway began, the amount mentioned by representatives of the Armenian government was several times less - $962 million, today we are talking about investments of about 3 billion dollars.
