Page 25 - bne_newspaper_June_15_2018

Weekly Lists
June 15, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 25
bne:
Infrastructure
Russian oil and gas pipelines to China via Mongolia under consideration
Moldova to rebuild 250km of railways with EBRD financing
The leaders of China, Russia and Mongolia held a meeting on June 9 in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao, where the three sides dis- cussed the potential construction of oil and gas pipelines spanning the three countries, TASS news agency reported.
Mongolia could provide a quicker route for Russian oil and gas ex- ported to China, and the potential project was the Mongolian side’s idea, according to the report.
The latest meeting of the three presidents was held during the Shang- hai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit - China and Russia are the founding members of the SCO, while Mongolia is an observer nation.
The presidents also mulled possibilities for improving road and rail connections between the countries, which would benefit China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Moldova’s state railway company plans to use loans from the Eu- ropean Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and European Investment Bank (EIB) for a railway rehabilitation project covering about 250km kilometres of the Bender-Basarabeasca- Etulia-Giurgiulesti route, Mold Street reported.
The route starts from the rebel Transnistria region close to its capital Tiraspol and to the border with Ukraine, and stretches west- ward to Moldova’s sole Danube port Giurgiulesti on the border with Romania. Transnistria’s foreign trade is already oriented toward the European Union and the modern route would provide the separatist region, which inherited most of Moldova’s industrial assets built during the USSR period, better trade opportunities.
Turkey has called a temporary halt to the filling of the basin of a huge dam on the Tigris River after objections from neighbouring Iraq, which is battling water shortages, officials said on June 7.
Turkey’s ambassador to Iraq, Fatih Yildiz, said on Twitter that Turkey stopped filling the dam basin on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s orders to address Iraq’s worries. Erdogan may have a particular eye on keeping Baghdad sweet just now given the Turkish armed forces operation in northern Iraq that some speculate could turn into a bid to raise the Turkish flag over the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) headquarters in the Qandil Mountains prior to the June 24 elections.
“As of this moment, Tigris waters are being transferred to Iraq without touching a drop of it in Ilisu,” Yildiz said.
Turkey halts filling of dam after Iraq complains of water shortages