Uzbekistan, Tashkent, May 21 / Trend D. Azizov /
Uzbekistan Railways will construct buildings and facilities worth $3.672 million to ensure the security of personnel and the property of the Hairatan-Mazar-i-Sharif railway, a government source told Trend on Monday.
A relevant decree was signed by Uzbek President Islam Karimov, the source said.
In late last year, the Afghan Public Works Ministry and Uzbekistan Railways signed an additional agreement to the contract dated November 27, 2009 to build these facilities. The customer is the Afghan side.
Under the project fencing around the perimeter of the stations, freight yards and sidings will be installed.
As reported, in November 2010 Uzbekistan Railways completed the construction of the Hairatan - Mazar-i-Sharif railway in Afghanistan worth $129 million.
The total length of the railway line, built by Uzbek specialists, is 106 km, including the length of the main ways is 75 km. The capacity of the road is eight pairs of trains per day, or more than nine million tons of cargo per year.
The project has been implemented due to grant of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at $165 million and own resources of Afghanistan Government at $5 million.
In 2011, Uzbekistan Railways signed a contract with the Afghan government to operate the railway for a period of three years.
In accordance with the contract, an Uzbek company carries out maintenance of the road by Uzbek specialists and performs freight transportation by its rolling stock.
The Uzbek side will receive for operation of the railway each year from Afghanistan $32 million.
Funding for operational works at Mazar-i-Sharif railway will be carried out due to ADB funds provided to Afghanistan.
The Afghan side also provided adequate safeguards to ensure security.
Uzbekistan Railways was formed in 1994 after the withdrawal from the Central Asian Railway, and is fully owned by the state.