Page 24 - bne_newspaper_March_16_2018

Weekly Lists
March 16, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 24
bne:
Infrastructure
China and Holland launch 11,000 km rail link via Kazakhstan
Moldova speeds up building gas connection to Romania
A new rail link passing through the territory of Kazakhstan connecting Amsterdam and China’s Yiwu was launched on March 7, the Astana Times reported on March 13, citing Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the Netherlands Magzhan Ilyasov.
The route is part of China’s One Belt and One Road initiative, which seeks to turn Central Asia into a transit zone for the delivery of Chinese goods to Europe and vice versa by equipping the region with transport and trade infrastructure. The link is the tenth rail connection between Yiwu and the Netherlands.
The 11,000 kilometre route also passes through Germany, Poland, Belarus and Russia before reaching the Netherlands.
Moldova’s government has endorsed a special procedure for the quick nationalisation of the land needed for the construction of the Ungheni-Chisinau natural gas pipeline that would secure the supply of Romanian gas, jurnal.md reported. The bill is subject to endorsement by lawmakers.
The move is aimed at securing gas supplies from neighbouring Romania after 2019, when Moldova’s contract with Gazprom expires. A pipeline from Iasi to Ungheni has already been built and the extension to Chisinau will allow it to supply gas to the industrial area around the Moldovan capital.
Moldova’s minister of economy explains the move by the need to speed up the works on the pipeline “under the circumstances of uncertain gas supplies after 2019”.
The Albanian government has cleared the way for the construction of the Kashar-Thumane motorway section under an ambitious €1bn PPP scheme which will encompass road, health and education investments in the next few years.
This is the second project under the PPP scheme, which was recently criticised by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with one IMF official advising the Albanian government to temporarily suspend it due to concerns over increased debt. The national programme dubbed “A billion for reconstruction” is aimed at mobilising substantial capital for road infrastructure, educational and health projects in the country.
Albania clears way for construction of Kashar- Thumane road