RZD received 13.6 bln ruble advance payment for rail construction in Libya
MOSCOW. May 17 (Interfax) - Russian Railways (RZD) received an advance payment of almost 13.6 billion rubles in 2010 for its rail construction project in Libya, the company said in its quarterly report.
At the same time, the company made pre-payments on the project in excess of 15.9 billion rubles. In the report for 2010, that sum is included in short-term payables. Total pre-payments by the end of the year reached 21.072 billion rubles, it said.
RZD and a subsidiary, Zarubezhstroitekhnologia (ZST), were building the high-speed Surt-Bengazi rail line. The 550-kilometer ran along the Mediterranean coast linking major Libyan cities, part of a future international transportation corridor in North Africa.
RZD concluded the 2.2 billion euro contract with Libya in 2008. The project is to be financed entirely by Libya, RZD President Vladimir Yakunin said previously. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said in 2008 that Russia would write off Libyan debt in exchange for contracts with Russian companies, including the Surt-Bengazi rail project.
RZD halted work on the project and evacuated its personnel from Libya in February. ZST chief Yury Nikolsson has said that Russia is ready to resume construction work once the political situation stabilizes.
ZST's liability under the project was 14 billion rubles as of June 30, 2010 (RZD had previously signed a host of long-term contracts under the project totaling 20 billion rubles). However, according to the report, ZTS concluded several other contracts in August 2010 totaling 420 million euro (16 billion rubles at the exchange rate on July 30, 2010).
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