RZD to resume construction of rail line in Libya when political situation stabilizes
MOSCOW. Feb 25 (Interfax) - Russian Railways (RZD) will not resume construction of the Surt-Benghazi rail line in Libya until the political situation stabilizes, Yury Nikolsson, the head of the general contractor for the project, RZD subsidiary Zarubezhstroytekhnologia, said at a briefing on Friday.
"All work is currently suspended. As soon as the situation there calms down, a resumption of work on the project may be discussed," he said.
The project was suspended on February 16, after more than 300 Libyan employee stayed away from work following the outbreak of unrest there.
The personnel have now been evacuated and machinery and equipment is under guard, he said.
Commenting on the evacuation of employees from Libya, Nikolsson said that all workers involved in the project had been living in 10 camps but with the start of political disorder, they were concentrated in camps in Ras-Lanuf, Surt and the head office in Tripoli. Evacuations commenced once the situation intensified. He added that RZD hopes to finish the evacuation in the first days of March. The first 45 RZD employees arrived in Moscow on February 23 from Sirt in two aircraft of the Emergency Situations Ministry. Another plan landed in Moscow with 31 RZD employees on Friday. An additional aircraft with Turkish and Serbian workers involved in the project is expected to land soon.
The remaining RZD employees will be evacuated from Ras-Lanuf by a ship that set sail from the Italian Port of Bari and is expected to arrive in Libya on February 27. Weather permitting, RZD hopes to have the vessel ready for its return journey within several days. Nikolsson added that 123 RZD employees and 700 foreign workers in the project are still in Libya. All employees still in Ras-Lanuf are safe and being provided food and water, he said. RZD's management is in constant telephone contact with them.
"All their relatives can rest assured that they will be evacuated," Nikolsson said.
The Surt-Benghazi rail line should cover 550 kilometers along the Libyan coast of the Mediterranean Sea and link up the country's major cities. The railway should become a part of an international transport corridor in Northern Africa. The project foresees the construction of 30 rail and 23 automotive routes, as well as 24 passenger and freight stations. According to Zarubezhstroytekhnologia, around 3,500 workers will be involved in the laying of the line's tracks, including 289 engineers.
RZD signed the contract for the Surt-Benghazi rail line's construction with Libya in April 2008 after winning at tender. The contract came to 2.2 billion rubles. RZD president Vladimir Yakunin said that Libya has fully paid for the contract. At the same time, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said in 2008 would write off Libya's debt in exchange for contracts for Russian companies, including the Surt-Benghazi project.
According to RZD's IFRS results for the first half of 2010, which were published on Thursday, Zarubezhstroytekhnologia's total obligations in the framework of the line's construction came to 14 billion rubles as of June 30, 2010. Prior to this, RZD had signed a series of long-term contracts worth a combined 20 billion rubles in the framework of the project's realization. The IFRS results said that Zarubezhstroytekhnologia signed several additional contracts worth 420 million euro (16 billion rubles based on the rate for July 30, 2010) in August 2010.