Translation of Adam‘s post (RUS).

The Almaty Major Beltway is a complicated project with a complicated story. The government entered it into the list of projects to be completed using concessionary financing, with the hope that it would be complete by 2012. However, in September 2009 it was announced that construction would be postponed indefinitely due to the economic crisis. Proposals emerged to connect separate roads to create a kind of temporary beltway.

In October, it became known that the project failed because the government received no bids on its concession financing scheme. For some, this was evidence of the crisis; for others, it was a sign that businesses distrusted the government. Either way, massive funding is required for other projects, such as land purchases. Two years ago, that number was 74 bn tenge. In late 2009, new calculations were made, giving a number nearly four times smaller – 18.5 bn tenge. This became possible not only through real estate prices dropping, but also through the optimization of expenditure. The government decided only to acquire land needed for road construction, without purchasing adjacent lots.

Background:

The new first-category road will be 67 km long, and is designed to reduce traffic on Almaty’s throughways by 50 000 cars. It will pass through the Karasaiskii, Iiliiskii and Talgarskii districts, 19 km away from the city center.

The project was developed by “Dortrans” and contracted by the Almaty Regional Department of Roads. The road will “start” at the 23rd km mark along the Almaty-Uzyngash highway, near the town of Kyrgauyldy and “end” at the 22 km mark along the Almaty-Talgar highway, near Yevgenievka.

The feasibility study has been done and soil composition has been researched. Out of 685 required plots of land, only 41 have been purchased (cost: 3.5 bn tenge). Yesterday, the government confirmed the list of items scheduled for concessionary financing in the years 2010-2012. This includes beltway construction and maintenance. The bids will be overseen by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

Among other things, the list of concessions includes the reconstruction and maintenance of an already-existing federal highway between Almaty and Kapshagai, which we wrote about last summer. Some investors were eventually found, evidently motivated by the lack of competition and the lack of doubt that the road will be used.

In August, it was reported that the Hungarian “Euroil” and a Chinese bridge and road construction company would take on the project. Their feasibility study proposed a highway 104 km long, which would cost the country $430 million. This would have boosted traffic capacity from 15,700 to 53 000 cars.

The road would be paid. According to preliminary estimates, the price would be between 3 and 8 tenge per kilometer, depending on the type and condition of the vehicle.