Russian Railways Holding Company will share its technologies

In December, on the margins of the Bishkek investment summit, Russian Railways International LLC, the state enterprise Kyrgyz Temir Jolu and the Russian Export Center JSC (REC) signed a memorandum of understanding to study the joint implementation of the Balykchy - Kochkor - Kara Keche railway line construction project in Kyrgyzstan. The construction of the 186-km line began this year.

The document defines the main directions, forms and conditions of cooperation between the parties. It is focused on the further study of the possibility of joint implementation of the project and stage-by-stage fulfillment of the railway line construction. 

According to Sergey Stolyarov, the general director of "Russian Railways International" LLC, the memorandum shows the importance of increasing bilateral mutually beneficial economic cooperation in railway transportation. 

"In this project our company relies not only on its own potential and successful experience in the design and construction of railways abroad, but also on the possibility of attracting the resources and technological base of the entire perimeter of the holding company to create a modern, safe and efficient railway infrastructure in Kyrgyzstan," he noted.

REC, in turn, plans to assist in attracting export financing for the project. 

"Russia and Kyrgyzstan are actively developing mutual trade, and the Russian Export Center traditionally supports projects in this country," REC Vice President Stanislav Georgievsky said at the document signing. - The development of economic relations is impossible without improving logistics, and this project may not only become one of the major transport projects in the region, but will also help to build the transport infrastructure of the future."

This strategic project will lay the foundation for a new railway hub, the development of the Issyk-Kul and Naryn regions. In the future, the line could be connected with the projected China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway and provide ample opportunities for socio-economic development of the entire Central Asian region, as well as create a unified railway network within Kyrgyzstan.

The construction of the Balykchi-Kochkor-Kara-Keche railway started this year.

The first stage of the project is the construction of the Balykchi-Kochkor line, which is 63 km long. For 2022 it was planned to build only 5 km of the line. All the works are financed by the state enterprise NC Kyrgyz Temir Jolu (Kyrgyz Railway). At the moment 90% of the work has been completed.

Sergei Volkov