Page 27 - bne_newspaper_January_25_2019

Weekly Lists
January 25, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 27
bne:
Infrastructure
Russian Railways
to invest $25bn in infrastructure through to 2024
Albania to scrap unsolicited PPP projects in the road sector
Russian Railways (RZD) will invest RUB1.7 trillion ($25bn) in infra- structure until 2024, first deputy CEO Vadim Mikhailov said during the Gaidar Forum in Moscow on January 17.
“The combined amount of investment stands at RUB2.4 trillion, of, which Russian Railways is to contribute RUB1.7 trillion,” he said as cited by Prime. The list of infrastructure projects includes quad- rupling container transit until 2024, upgrades of the Baikal-Amur Mainline and the Trans-Siberian Railway to the Pacific ports that start receiving 180mn tonnes of cargoes in 2024 and 210mn tonnes in 2025 with coal accounting for the bulk of the amount, he said.
The Albanian government plans to stop accepting unsolicited pro- posals for public-private partnerships (PPP) from private compa- nies in the road sector, but not for other sectors that are seen as strategic.
The practice of accepting unsolicited proposals for PPP projects and giving them an advantage during the tender process has been heavily criticised as the winners of tenders were in effect pre-deter- mined, leaving no space for fair competition.
Critics of the series of PPP projects launched under Prime Minister Edi Rama’s government include the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international financial institutions, as well as Albanian opposition parties.
The finance ministry has now drawn up a set of amendments in which it attempts to address the IMF’s concerns, Arben Ahmetaj, Albania’s finance minister until the end-December reshuffle and the author of the new legislation, wrote on his Facebook page on January 22.
The European Union is to financially back the strategic project to construct Georgia’s Anaklia Deep Sea Port on the Black Sea with a €233mn grant. Indirect support, meanwhile, will be provided by the bloc in the form of €100mn of financing for rail and road infrastructure.
The $2.5bn port project is being developed by the Anaklia Develop- ment Consortium backed by Georgia’s largest lender, TBC Bank, under a build-operate-transfer contract with the government, signed during the time of former PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili.
EU extends €233mn for Georgia’s Anaklia deep-sea port project