Gosinvestproekt chooses Air Express project supplier in December

The State Agency for Investment and National Projects of Ukraine (Gosinvestproekt ) plans to choose a supplier of rolling stock for the Air Express project in December 2013, according to the head of department Vladislav Kaskiv. The Ukrainian enterprise Kryukov Wagon Works is among the possible suppliers,the Information-Analytical Bulletin of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine informs.

Experts say the national Air Express project implies establishing of high-speed passenger services between the Kyiv-Passenger station and the Borispol International Airport (Kyiv). The project involves construction of a new railway line from the existing rail mainline Kyiv-Kharkiv to Boryspil airport, as well as construction of a railway complex in Boryspil. The length of the route is 30 kilometers.

Construction of the line will help relieve the roads in the indicated direction, and most importantly will save passengers’ time. This, in turn, will greatly enhance the attractiveness of the country's main airport.

To implement this ambitious initiative, the Export-Import Bank of China opened a credit line for the project, Gosinvestproekt experts say. The total credit amount is 372 million USD with a 15 years payback period and an interest rate of 6.5 % per annum. Credit terms imply a 3-years delay to return the credit. The credit will be released in two tranches. The first tranche of 52 million USD will be used for the design and preparation works. The second one (320 million USD) will secure construction of infrastructure facilities. The credit performance will be monitored by Gosinvestproekt and the Export-Import Bank of China.

The Credit Agreement also defines the general contractor from the Chinese side - China National Machinery Industry Complete Engineering Corporation (CMCEC). Experts note that the estimated construction period  for the project is 18 months, but it can be adjusted both ways, given lack of experience of Ukraine’s cooperation with the Chinese company.

It is worth mentioning that a similar project has been already implemented in Russia. In particular, the organization of the railway communication between the Belarus railway station in Moscow and the international Sheremetyevo airport cost the Russian capital 4.2 billion rubles (about 140 million U.S. dollars). In this case, the length of the constructed section was over 8 kilometers.