OREANDA-NEWS. Investors of the private highway project “Meridian”, which is supposed to connect Europe with Kazakhstan and China, have found a way to reduce its cost by 122 billion rubles to 472 billion rubles by changing the route. The initiator of the project, the former deputy chairman of Gazprom Alexander Ryazanov, told about this media.

The Meridian project, included in the comprehensive development plan of the trunk infrastructure for 6.35 trillion rubles. at the end of 2018 with the condition that it does not require budget funds, it envisages the construction of a four-lane high-speed road from the border with Belarus to the border with Kazakhstan in the Orenburg region, according to European standards. Driving on the road will be paid. According to Ryazanov, initially this project involved the implementation of three main sections of the road. The total length of the highway was planned in 1982 km, and the cost - 594 billion rubles.

“It’s logical to build the whole project at once, then the effect of the project’s realization is greater. But taking into account financing, we broke it into three components, ”Ryazanov added. The initiators of the project are considering the possibility of abandoning the construction of the first section of the road (would require 122 billion rubles), thereby reducing not only the route route, but also the cost of its implementation, as well as the construction time.

The initiators of Meridian (Ryazanov plans to build it with his partner Roman Nesterenko) have already spent 2.5 billion rubles on its implementation. "Basically, this is the purchase of land, geological research, coordination and obtaining technical conditions from the owners of communications, design, and so on," says the former deputy chairman of Gazprom. The construction will take four to five years, the payback period is ten years after commissioning.