Kyrgyz leader welcomes results of China visit
SHANGHAI. May 20 (Interfax) - Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev has described the results of his state visit to China as positive.
"We have resolved all of the issues, even complex ones linked with the funding of the construction of a motorway between the republic's northern and southern regions," Atambayev told reporters on Tuesday.
The final phase of the motorway project requires approximately $300 million, he said.
"Apart from that, we took advantage of the fast track procedure for receiving a grant - more than $30 million for rebuilding roads in Bishkek - in order to be able to make the most of this money before autumn of this year," the president said.
Kyrgyzstan also hopes to be able to use the fast track procedure to receive a Chinese grant to fund irrigation projects in the country.
In addition to that, China provided Kyrgyzstan with another grant of 300 million yuan, or some $50 million.
In the future, Kyrgyzstan plans to stop seeking grants and loans, Atambayev said, adding that "money may be borrowed only for very important projects."
"We are still looking for an option for a railroad that would link Kyrgyzstan and China. We have only one condition in this matter - we do not want this railroad to tackle issues of only one country, we want it to tackle the issue facing Kyrgyzstan as well," the president said.
Kyrgyzstan needs a railroad that would link its northern and southern regions, he added.
"In this context, for the second year in a row, we have been looking for a compromise that would make sure that this railroad crosses Kyrgyzstan from the north to the south and enters China," Atambayev said.
The Kyrgyz leader said that his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping had also addressed security issues.
"On the whole, we have accomplished all of the tasks that were set [before the visit to China]," he added.
