ArmInfo. A regular meeting of the North-South Project Steering Council was held under the chairmanship of RA Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Khachatryan.
According to the government press service, the results of the tender for the procurement of technical supervision and consulting services for the construction of the 7-kilometer Kajaran tunnel and approximately 4-kilometer road sections leading to it were approved during the meeting.
Council members also approved the lists of bidders for the procurement of technical supervision and consulting services for the construction of the Sisian-Kajaran road project, implemented within the framework of the Road Sector Resilience and Inclusion Program, as well as technical supervision and consulting services for the construction of the approximately 27-kilometer northern section of the road. Tigran Khachatryan made a number of comments on the issues discussed and gave relevant instructions.
As a reminder, Armenia is implementing a large-scale project to build a new Sisian-Kajaran road, part of the North-South transport corridor. The new 60-kilometer road will be of the second technical category. It will traverse difficult mountainous terrain and include 27 bridges with a total length of 4.7 km and nine tunnels with a total length of 12.5 km (the longest, the Bargushat Tunnel, is approximately 8.6 km long).
The prequalification stage of the international tender for this project has been completed, with 23 companies from Europe, China, and other countries submitting bids.
Of the EU's overall financial assistance package to Armenia, amounting to ?2.6 billion, ?600 million will be allocated for the construction of the Kajaran-Sisian road over the next five years. The Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development will provide an additional $200 million. The ADB has already allocated $500 million. The 60-kilometer section of the highway 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 European countries through Armenia (Meghri-Kapan-Goris-Yerevan-Ashtarak-Gyumri-Bavra) and Georgia. Construction of the corridor was initially planned for completion in 2019. The program's cost has been constantly revised upward. In September 2012, when construction of the highway began, the amount quoted by Armenian government representatives was significantly lower - $962 million; today, the investment is estimated at approximately $3 billion.
