Russian Railways expects to sign contracts next year for the construction of two railway lines in Egypt, the work is tentatively estimated at $900 million, the first Deputy General Director of Russian Railways Sergey Pavlov told reporters.
"In Egypt, this is the project of the Manashi - 6 October line with a length of 70 km, its cost is approximately $300 million. And Imbaba-Alexandria, which is already 270 km away, this project is estimated at $600 million. But these figures are preliminary, because the survey is currently underway. I think all decisions will be made next year. We are not interested in dragging our feet, and neither is the Egyptian side. They were ready and invited us during the most severe pandemic, but the health of our people and employees is the main capital that we have, so we were only able to organize this trip now, " Pavlov said.
He noted that Egypt was one of those countries where the implementation of projects slowed down due to the pandemic - it was planned to start survey work in January, but the quarantine and closed borders prevented it. However, pre-project activities have already started.
"We expect that such large projects will be implemented, including with the involvement of state support, both from our side and from the Egyptian side… Export credit is one of the tools that can also be used. But first we need to understand what we need to do there, go through the design stage and then decide on further steps, " Pavlov explained.
According to him, pre-project studies of Russian Railways are carried out at their own expense.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Creative Commons
Based on materials TASS