An Italian company has won a $33 million contract to build a section of a new highway that will bypass central Yerevan and connect two major highways leading to the Armenian capital.
The highway is constructed as part of a loan agreement signed by the Armenian government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The first 5-kilometer stretch of the road was inaugurated a year ago.
The government went on to call an international tender for its second section that will be about 10 kilometers long. The Italian construction firm, Tirrena Scavi, was declared the winner of the contest last week at a meeting of Prime Minister Karen Karapetian and officials responsible for the project.
A government statement cited one of those officials as saying that Tirrena Scavi was one of five bidders in the tender which she said was said held “in conformity with Asian Development Bank procedures.” The Italians offered to build the road for almost $33 million, said the statement.
Yerevan Mayor Taron Markarian and a senior Tirrena executive, Giacomo Lombardi, signed a construction contract on Monday. Lombardi was reported to say at the signing ceremony that the quality of the highway section “will satisfy everyone.”
Under the contract, work on the four-lane road will start early next year and take two years.
The road will pass through Yerevan’s southern and western suburbs close to the two national highways. Officials say that it will reduce traffic congestion in the city.
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