Office of the company for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project has opened in Bishkek, the press service of the Kyrgyz Cabinet of Ministers said.
Kyrgyz Prime Minister Akylbek Japarov said that the country highly valued this project and called it "the project of the century." According to him, the construction of this railway will bring the economic interaction of China and the Central Asian countries to a qualitatively new level.
"A lot of efforts have been made to reach this historic moment. But it is worth noting that this is just the first step in the full implementation of the project; we have major challenges ahead of us. While, relying on the rich experience of our colleagues from China and Uzbekistan, we can confidently say that we will complete this work efficiently and on time," he said.
Uzbekistan was represented by the Minister of Transport Ilkhom Makhkamov and the Chairman of Uzbekistan Railways Zufar Narzullaev.
In July, the President ordered the contribution of $255 million to the capital of the project company for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project Of these, $14 million are supposed to be allocated by the end of this year.
In an interview with Gazeta.uz, a representative of the Ministry of Transport reported in the summer that China's share in the joint company would be 51%, while Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan would each have 24.5%. Its founders were China's China Railway International Co., Ltd., Kyrgyzstan's Kyrgyz Temir Zholu, and Uzbekistan's Uzbekistan Temir Yollari. Kyrgyzstan has planned to contribute 11 billion soums (about 130.5 million dollars) in its budget.
“The construction of the railway in China will be fully implemented and financed by the Chinese side. And 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.
It is planned to draw funds from international financial institutions for project finance.
In June, the governments of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and China signed a trilateral agreement on cooperation for the railway project.
The Ministry of Transport of Uzbekistan earlier stated that the project would help 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 feasibility study for the 454-kilometer Uzbekistan-Kyrgyzstan-China railway project was planned to be developed by June 1, 2023 (previously - July 1), but it was completed ahead of schedule - in May. Construction work is scheduled to commence in October 2024.
Deputy Minister of Transport of Uzbekistan Jasurbek Choriev estimated the project at $ 5 billion and called the creation of a consortium one of the possible options for a financial solution.
