On December 27, official work will launch the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project. This was announced by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov at the III People's Kurultai on December 20.

When we started this project, there were those who did not believe in it, considering it a fairy tale. However, today you have all witnessed that this is a feasible project. On December 27, official work will launch on the project of this road. It will become a strategic bridge connecting the East and the West, the president said.

As Sadyr Japarov noted, the project of the century will open up new opportunities for trade, tourism and industry.

On Friday, a signing ceremony of an investment agreement on design, project, financing, operation and maintenance between the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan and the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan Railway Company took place in the Yntymak-Ordo building of the Presidential Administration of Kyrgyzstan.

The investment agreement was signed by the Minister of Transport and Communications of Kyrgyzstan Absattar Syrgabaev and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the railway company Zhong Shengui. The event was also attended by the Ambassador of Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan Saidikram Niyazhodjaev.

The General Director of the state-owned enterprise Kyrgyz Temir Zholu (KTZ) Azamat Sakiev reported that the project of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway is planned to launch in October 2024 and will last about 6 years.

About the project

The project to build a railway line that will connect China with the countries of Central Asia has been discussed for about 25 years. Several route options were considered, including from China through Kyrgyzstan to Uzbekistan, then to Turkmenistan, Iran and Turkey. The parties cannot agree on the track width, as well as the cost of building the highway, which will pass through high-mountainous, hard-to-reach areas, and its route. It is expected that this will reduce dependence on Russia and Kazakhstan.

According to the document, the project of the international transport corridor will take place along a combined route Kashgar-Torugart-Makmal-Jalal-Abad-Andijan. The Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan stated that the implementation of the project will expand the geography of trade and transportation from China through Uzbekistan to Turkey and further to Europe, as well as in the Persian Gulf states.

The length of the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway will be 486 km, of which about 312 km will pass through the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic (KR), where it is planned to build 18 railway stations, and, in addition, given the mountainous terrain, it will be necessary to build 81 bridges and drill 41 tunnels with a length of more than 120 km.

The head of the state enterprise Kyrgyz Temir Zholu (KTZ) Azamat Sakiev noted that the railway will consist of two parts. From the Chinese border to the Makmal station (165.5 km), it is planned to lay a branch with a gauge of 1435 mm in accordance with the standard used in the PRC, then to Jalal-Abad (146.2 km) there will be a gauge of 1520 mm.

At the Makmal station, the trains will be reorganized, cargo will be reloaded, sorted and weighed. According to forecasts, the average annual volume of transportation on the line by 2035 will be 5 million tons, of which slightly more than half will be transit, wrote Spot.

Under the terms of the agreement, China will receive 51% stake in the joint venture, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan-24.5% each.

An official of the Ministry of Transport reported in the summer that China's share in the joint company will be 51%, and Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan-24.5% each. Its founders were China Railway International, Kyrgyz Temir Zholu and Uzbekistan Railways. Kyrgyzstan planned to contribute 11 billion soums (about 130.5 million dollars) in its budget.

The project of the railway in China will be fully implemented and financed by the Chinese side. Plus, they will also participate in these processes inside Kyrgyzstan. In Uzbekistan, we need to build about 10 km of roads to connect to the project. The bulk of the work is in Kyrgyzstan, the source said.

The cost of the project is estimated at $4.7 billion. Half of the sum from their own funds will be provided by the participating countries in accordance with their shares in the joint venture: $1.18 billion will be contributed by China, and about $700 million by Kyrgyzstan. At the same time, in a presentation on June 19 in the Kyrgyz parliament, it was said that Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan will contribute $573 million each.

Another $2.35 billion will be a Chinese non-commercial loan. Negotiations are currently underway with Ineximbank and the National Bank of China.

In July, the President of Uzbekistan ordered the allocation of $255 million to the authorized capital of the project company for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project. Of these, $14 million should be contributed by the end of this year.