Tashkent, Uzbekistan, May 1
By Demir Azizov - Trend:
Chinese Eximbank and the Uzbek National Bank of Foreign Economic Activity signed a loan agreement worth $350 million for the construction of the railway line through the Kamchik pass in the east of the country, Uzbekistan Railways representative told Trend on April 30.
"The loan was issued for a period of 20 years, including a five-year grace period, at a rate of 2.25 percent per annum," the representative added.
The loan will be used for design and constructing a 19-kilometer tunnel. The general contractor is China Railway Tunnel Group.
Uzbekistan started construction of the Angren-Pap new electrified railway in July 2013.
It was reported that the Angren-Pap railway line with a length of 129 km would run through the Kamchik pass and link the three oblasts in the east of the country - Andijan, Namangan and Fergana - with the remaining part of Uzbekistan.
The project worth $1.77 billion is financed at the expense of the Uzbek side's own funds and loans of the international financial institutes.
The construction is planned to be completed in late 2017.
The Kamchik pass is on the Kurama Range at 1,200 meters above a sea level.
Through the pass is the only automobile route between the Tashkent region and the Pap district of the Namangan region "Tashkent -Osh" (A -373). This strategically important road is periodically closed in winter because of the threat of avalanches. The new railway should pass along the Uzbek northern border with Tajikistan.
Translated by NH
Edited by CN