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EBRD backs reform of Russian road sector
The EBRD is lending Russia $290 million to build key sections of major new roads in St Petersburg and Far East Russia. The loan is part of the Bank’s continued support for road-sector reform in Russia, including efforts to encourage greater private-sector involvement in the road network and require those users that put the greatest pressure on the system to contribute directly to the cost of its upkeep.
The loan, signed in London today by EBRD President Jean Lemierre and Russian Transport Minister Sergei Frank, is the biggest made by the Bank since it was founded in 1991 and brings total EBRD lending for the Russian road sector to $519 million.
The Russian Federation is the official borrower of the 15-year loan, while the project will be implemented by the State Road Administration, Rosavtodor, which is headed by Igor Slyunyaev, First Deputy Minister of Transport. Rosavtodor is responsible for construction of the two roads, the St Petersburg by-pass and the 2,165-km Chita-Khabarovsk road in the Russian Far East. The latter runs parallel to the Trans-Siberian railway.
A key aim of the Bank’s road projects is to help remove bottlenecks and thus stimulate economic growth, Mr. Lemierre said, underlining the Bank’s long-term commitment to the development of Russian infrastructure and the transport sector in particular.
Last September, the EBRD lent Russia $229 million to finance construction of other sections of these strategically important roads, which will allow heavy traffic to avoid the centre of St Petersburg and create the first all-weather road link to the Russian Far East. These two roads will benefit in equal measure from the EBRD’s follow-up loan.
Also in russian.
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