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Weekly Lists
September 1, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 21
bne:
Infrastructure
Russia-Mongolia-China “economic corridor”
to launch in 2018
The Russia-Mongolia-China “economic corridor” along the Tianjin- Ulan Bator-Ulan-Ude route is expected to launch in 2018, TASS news agency reported on August 30, quoting Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov.
The project to establish the transit route was signed by the leaders of the three countries during the Tashkent summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in June 2016. It is part of China’s multi- billion dollar One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative that seeks to transform Central Asia, among other regions, with transit zones and infrastructure for Chinese exports.
"We expect that this agreement will come into effect and will be ratified shortly in our countries. And haulage via the Russia-Mongolia- China corridor will open as early as next year, in 2018," Sokolov said.
Croatia’s government has endorsed the 2017-2030 Croatian Transport Strategy. Under the strategy around €2bn worth of cohesion funds from the European Union will be invested in 20 rail, road, maritime and air transport projects.
This will help Croatia tackle its transport infrastructure spending gap, which Global Infrastructure Hub, a G20 initiative, recently forecast would grow from $175mn in 2017 to $363mn in 2040. As tourist numbers increase, Croatia’s airport and port facilities are coming under pressure.
"The adoption of the strategy provides for the unconditional spending of EU funds for more than 20 transport projects worth €2bn in total," Minister of Transport Oleg Butkovic said according to a government statement.
The consortium updating the feasibility study for the Pitesti-Sibiu motorway in Romania has failed to meet its August 15 deadline. With no study endorsed by independent experts, the country cannot ask for the money promised by the European Union under the cohesion programmes.
Italy’s Spea Ingegneria Europea and local Tecnic Consulting Engineering reportedly failed to deliver the study for the most difficult segments of the motorway across the Carpathian mountains, economica.net reported on August 30, quoting sources from within the national road company CNAIR.
Croatian government adopts €2bn long-term transport strategy
Romania risks losing EU money for Pitesti- Sibiu motorway