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.
