Russia's Avtodor discussing Meridian highway with China, intergovernmental loan possible
SOCHI. June 1 (Interfax) - The feasibility study for the project to build the Meridian toll freeway, which was proposed a few years ago by Russian Holding Company (RHC), is being worked out with Chinese partners, the first deputy CEO for investment policy at state company Russian Highways (Avtodor), Igor Koval said.
"We are currently working out a comprehensive feasibility study for the Meridian project, within the context of which we are working on traffic modelling, assessing the cost of construction and installation work. We are involving, among others, Chinese partners to assess the traffic modelling taking into account the amount of freight that will come from China," Koval told reporters on the sidelines of the Innovative Technology and Smart Transport Systems in Road Construction forum in Sochi.
He said previous forecasts for traffic on the Meridian, which was planned as part of the transit corridor from China to Europe, are now being reconsidered.
"The results of our feasibility study will be ready in the third quarter of this year. The amount of freight, preliminary estimates of the required capital expenditures for the project and the main zones of attraction for the freight base will be clear to us based on these results," he said, adding that this will finally clarify the route options.
Asked about the possibility of China's participation in the project, Koval said: "There is such interest. Among other things, various mechanisms of an intergovernmental loan are being discussed in this regard, as far as I know."
Avtodor CEO Vyacheslav Petushenko told reporters that the Meridian project is being worked out taking into account changing logistics routes.
"The main objective of Meridian [when the project was originally planned] was a Europe-Western China corridor. Today, there's no point in running it to Europe, so now we're considering other options for this freeway's route. And I can't say right now what the actual routing and its cost will be. As a result of the feasibility study we'll understand how much this will cost and what corridors will be involved," Petushenko said.
He did not specify the preliminary cost and structure of financing for the Meridian project.
"We are actively working with RHC, with [its chairman] Alexander Ryazanov. We prepared the terms of reference together. We allocated funds from our revenue. And we will continue to work with him. Right now we're only doing the feasibility study, which the state company is fully financing," Petushenko said.
"At the implementation stage we will already understand what sections there will be, the order of priorities, what the cost of money will be by then, what share the government will invest. And most importantly, we will understand the traffic that will be involved, and in what period we will recoup this. Because we will also consider the economic side. In the meantime, I think, by the fall we will already be able to tell you the first estimates," Petushenko said.
The project to build the Meridian freeway was proposed by Ryazanov, who at the end of 2019 expressed interest in the mechanism of investment protection and promotion agreements, but said that it needed to be refined.
It was proposed that the freeway would run 1,300 to 2,000 km through eight Russian regions: Orenburg, Samara, Saratov, Tambov, Lipetsk, Oryol, Bryansk and Smolensk.