Uzbekistan, Tashkent, June 21 / Trend D. Azizov /
The Road Fund under the Uzbek Finance Ministry has begun choosing contractors and construction companies to carry out road construction work to reconstruct the Guzar-Chim-Kukdala road (4R87) in the south of the country, the fund said today.
According to the information, the fund has applied for a loan from the Saudi Fund for Development to the amount of $20.4 million and the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development for $30 million to implement this project worth $80 million and intends to use some funding for paying for road construction operations. Uzbekistan will allocate $29.6 million to implement the project.
According to the terms of the tender, the winner must carry out the reconstruction of two sections (0 - 18 and 38-73 km) of the Gusar-Chim-Kukdala road with a total length of 53 km by replacing the two-lane asphalt pavement to four-lane, as well as the construction of two bridges and a road junction in Kashkadarya field. The construction period will cover18 months.
Bids will be accepted until July 16. The tender results will be summarised in late September this year.
It is planned to construct and reconstruct roads with a total length of 1500 kilometres by 2015 within the national highway construction programme of the first category worth $2.6 billion. The national highway will stretch from the north-western to the south-eastern border of the country and will connect major cities of the country.
The construction is planned to be financed by the government to the sum of $1.68 billion, a credit line from the Chinese government for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states, ADB loans and other international financial institutions.
At present, the total length of Uzbek roads is 146,400 kilometres. About 42,500 kilometres falls to the main highways, including 3200 kilometres of international highways and 18,800 kilometres of roads of national importance. About 20 international transport routes and directions stretch accross Uzbek territory.