Page 23 - bne_newspaper_December_08_2017

Weekly Lists
December 8, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 23
bne:
Infrastructure
Russian Railways passenger lines to bypass Ukraine
Starting on December 11 all Russian Railways (RZD) passenger trains will bypass Ukraine on their way to western destinations, Tass reported on December 7 citing the RZD head for passenger transportation Dmitri Pegov.
One of the main routes to be affected will be the Berlin-Moscow train, which has long been the main route used by western visitors on their way to Russia by train.
The RZD delivered on the promise to bypass Ukraine by the end of 2017, as a part of larger Kremlin strategy of a series of infrastruc- ture projects that will cut Ukraine out of Russia's connections to its main customers in Europe.
Ukraine faces going from a traditional bridge between east and west to becoming an "island" as a result of Russia's actions.
Turkmenistan on November 29 started the construction of a new railway to run from its border to Torghundi city in Afghanistan, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reported.
The railway will eventually link Afghanistan to the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat and to the Turkmenbashy Port located on the Caspian Sea, the report said. The project is aimed at connecting Afghanistan to a larger transport corridor, which includes Baku in Azerbaijan, Tbilisi in Georgia and Ankara and Istanbul in Turkey.
Construction started followed the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) four days earlier by Turkmenistan's Ministry of Railway Transport and the Afghanistan Railway Authority for the major overhaul of a 13-kilometre railway running from Serkhetabat in Turkmenistan to Torghundi.
Slovenia has secured €109mn from EU funds for the €1bn project to expand the rail link between the port of Koper and the inland hub of Divaca, the government said in its Slovenia Weekly magazine on December 1.
The Koper-Divaca railway is strategically important as it connects the capital Ljubljana with the country’s sole Adriatic port, Koper. This is also the main maritime gateway for Hungary, handling over three-quarters of its container trans-shipments.
The government said that its largest infrastructure project has been awarded €109mn in a Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) blending call as announced by the European Commission on November 30.
Turkmenistan launches construction of new rail link to Afghanistan
Slovenia secures €109mn from EU funds for Koper-Divaca railway