EBRD funding highway to by-pass centre of St. Petersburg

20:15, 22 June 2012

MOSCOW. June 22. KAZINFORM The EBRD today committed to a loan of up to EUR 200 million to fund a section of a new toll road by-passing the historic centre of St. Petersburg. It thus joined four other banks in raising a total of nearly 59 billion roubles (equivalent to EUR 1.5 billion) for a project which could divert up to 140,000 vehicles a day from this World Heritage site, according to information posted on the Bank's website.

The other banks funding the project are Russia's Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs Vnesheconombank (VEB), VTB-Capital, Gazprombank, as well as the Eurasian Development Bank which was founded by Russia and Kazakhstan.

The by-pass motorway will connect the city's major commercial port with the St. Petersburg Ring Road in the south and with the Scandinavia motorway to Finland in the north. The new road will form an integral part of Pan-European Transport Corridor IX linking Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev and the cities of southern Europe.

The EBRD's 12-year loan will contribute to financing the 11.7 km central section of the WHSD, whose total length will be 46 km. A large part of the central section of the by-pass will be built over water, requiring significant engineering expertise and the construction of bridges and flyovers, as well as one tunnel.

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