Rome, 14 March 2018
Today, in Yerevan, Armenia, a delegation, led by Gianni Vittorio Armani, Managing Director of Anas, and Bernardo Magrì, Managing Director of AIE, a subsidiary of Anas that operates in foreign markets, met with Armenian Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan, Minister of Transport Vahan Martirosyan, and Vardan Karapetyan, acting Chief Executive of the North-South Road Corridor Investment Programme, for the signing of an agreement that assigns AIE (Anas International Enterprise) the role of Private Partner in the construction and management of a section of the North-South motorway corridor (from Sisian to Agarak ) that traverses Armenia from Georgia to the Iranian border.
AIE's activities in Europe, in the member countries of the CIS (Community of Independent States), and in Iran are focused on the development of the International North South Transport Corridor, within the new Silk Road project.
Along this North-South Corridor, in particular on the route from Moscow to the Persian Gulf, Anas, through its subsidiary AIE, has acquired, or is in the process of acquiring, several projects for the development and management of the road network in Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Iran.
The development of the North South Road Corridor (which will traverse Armenia from the border with Georgia to the one with Iran) is one of the goals identified by the Armenian government in their 2014-2025 Development Strategy.
This section, which is particularly demanding from a technical and economic standpoint, has an estimated value of about 1 billion, is located in the south, on the border with Iran, and covers a stretch of about 90 km. This section, currently in the executive design phase, represents the continuation of Corridor 10 in Iran.
"The activities of Anas-AIE continue - Managing Director of Anas Gianni Vittorio Armani stated - for the development of the road network in the context of the new Silk Road network, consisting of "economic corridors" between China and Europe. Today's agreement concerns a high strategic value corridor for road communications between Europe-Caucasus-Asia at the nerve point of the intersection of two continents. The Anas project will see the transformation of the existing connection into a fast-flowing motorway able to ensure a reduction in travel time, by about 3 hours, and increase safety and comfort. With these features the North South Corridor will become a functional part of the TRACECA (TRAnsport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia) and the new Silk Road."
"With today's signing - declared Managing Director of AIE Bernardo Magrì - AIE confirms its leading role in the development of road concessions. This important result, obtained thanks to the support of Italian institutions, affirms the work started with the workshop on the topic, organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, last October."
With the signing of the agreement, IEA starts its analysis of the bankability of the proposed project, preliminary to the concession contract between the Armenian Government and Anas.