Feasibility study for construction of railway from Charbakh Metro station to Zvartnots airport will be completed in two months

YEREVAN, December 21. / ARKA /. The feasibility study for the construction of a railway from Charbakh Metro station in Yerevan to Armenia’s Zvartnots international airport will  be completed in two months, Viktor Rebets, the chief executive manager of the Russian –run South Caucasus Railways (SCR) company told reporters today.

He said together with the airport the SCR is working to select a firm to make the feasibility study. He said the study will be completed in two months. “Until then it is difficult to say how much the project is economically expedient for SCR as an investor, " he said.

"We are ready to invest in this project, but before that we must identify the project payback period, cargo base and traffic of passengers in these directions," he said.

Rebets said in general the company is interested in participating in this project, as the airport is a free economic zone, which is a factor in attracting investors to form production sites.

Rebets also said that at present the SCR is in talks with the airport, the Ministry of Transport, trying to assess the planned volumes of freight and economic expediency of the project.

On May 4 Viktor Rebets, then Armenian minister of transport and communications Manuk Vardanyan and general manager of Armenia International Airports, operating Armenia’s largest Zvartnots airport, Marcelo Wende signed a Memorandum of Intent for the construction of a railway to Zvartnots international airport.

The project includes construction of an 810 meters long tunnel. This railway is supposed to connect the passenger terminal of Zvartnots airport with Charbakh Metro station and the airport’s cargo terminal with Karmir Blur railway station.

The memorandum was signed in view of the government’s strategic program of establishment of logistical center and a free economic zone near Zvartnots airport. In accordance with the memorandum, the parties agreed to appoint responsible persons who will be given three months to develop proposals on the feasibility of the project.  

Speaking at a news conference on May 24 Viktor Rebets said given the length of the route, which, according to preliminary estimates, will be about 8 km, it will be possible to implement this project within one year.  The preliminary cost of the project was estimated $2.7 million. 

South Caucasus Railways is a 100% subsidiary of state-run Russian Railways that was awarded a concesional management of SCR. The 30 year contract was signed in 2008. It can be prolonged for another 10 years.

Armenia - International Airports operates Zvartnots airport in accordance with the 30-year concession agreement, signed with the Armenian government in 2001. The company is owned by Argentinean American International Airports, which belongs to the Argentine Armenian businessman Eduardo Eurnekian. -0-