Construction of railway between Armenia and Iran may produce multiplicative effect
21.07.2015,
15:49
Construction of a railway between Armenia and Iran is an important infrastructural project which may produce a good multiplicative effect already in the process of the construction, Tigran Jrbashyan, the head of the directorial board of the AmCham, American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia, said Tuesday in an interview with ARKA News Agency.
YEREVAN, July 21. /ARKA/. Construction of a railway between Armenia and Iran is an important infrastructural project which may produce a good multiplicative effect already in the process of the construction, Tigran Jrbashyan, the head of the directorial board of the AmCham, American Chamber of Commerce in Armenia, said Tuesday in an interview with ARKA News Agency.
«But we should understand that this project is for Armenia, not for Iran, and this is important to us, not to Iran,» he said. «Iran has roads trough Azerbaijan and Bandar Abbas. It means this is not life-or-death issue. The problem is far more significant to us.»
He said maybe this is the very project that should be presented as one of the most important examples of Armenian-Iranian cooperation.
«Now the prospect of construction of the road is becoming more feasible, but I don't completely understand where is Iran's interest here,» Jrbashyan said in his interview. «Now the entire world will work with Iran, and the entire Europe as well as Russia will rush there. China worked in China before that. But Iran will wait and see. It is now the most desirable location for investments.»
On August 7, 2014, Armenia's government approved the draft project of the Iran-Armneia railway construction. This project is estimated to cost $3.5 billion.
The high cost of the project is explained by mountainous terrain through which it is supposed to pass. Specifically, the 300 km-long railway will have 19.4 km-long 64 bridges and 60 tunnels of 102.3 kilometers. The railway is to run from Gagarin station in Armenia’s Gegharkunik province to Agarak in southern Syunik and may transport up to 25 million cargos a year.
The project was worked out by China's CCCC International. Chinese banks are showing interest in the project – they expressed willingness to finance 60% of the project. ---0-----
«But we should understand that this project is for Armenia, not for Iran, and this is important to us, not to Iran,» he said. «Iran has roads trough Azerbaijan and Bandar Abbas. It means this is not life-or-death issue. The problem is far more significant to us.»
He said maybe this is the very project that should be presented as one of the most important examples of Armenian-Iranian cooperation.
«Now the prospect of construction of the road is becoming more feasible, but I don't completely understand where is Iran's interest here,» Jrbashyan said in his interview. «Now the entire world will work with Iran, and the entire Europe as well as Russia will rush there. China worked in China before that. But Iran will wait and see. It is now the most desirable location for investments.»
On August 7, 2014, Armenia's government approved the draft project of the Iran-Armneia railway construction. This project is estimated to cost $3.5 billion.
The high cost of the project is explained by mountainous terrain through which it is supposed to pass. Specifically, the 300 km-long railway will have 19.4 km-long 64 bridges and 60 tunnels of 102.3 kilometers. The railway is to run from Gagarin station in Armenia’s Gegharkunik province to Agarak in southern Syunik and may transport up to 25 million cargos a year.
The project was worked out by China's CCCC International. Chinese banks are showing interest in the project – they expressed willingness to finance 60% of the project. ---0-----
