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Yamal airport to use investor funds for its upgrade

The UrengoiAeroInvest Company earlier announced it would invest in the airport’s modernization more than $125 million

SOCHI, February 16. /TASS/. Modernization of the airport in Yamal’s Novy Urengoi will not require financing from the local budget, it will rely on investor funds, the region’s Governor Dmitry Kobylkin said in an interview with TASS at the Russian Investment Forum in Sochi on Friday.

The investor is UrengoiAeroInvest (of the Airports of Regions, a part of Renova), he added.

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Price tag to reconstruct two Arctic airports nearly $5 mln

"The region, as yet, would not participate with its money, as initially we planned allocating 3.5 billion rubles ($62 million) for the runway, but then our capital grant shrank to 1.5 billion ($27 million). <…> The investor undertakes everything, which was a surprise for us," he said. "I am happy the investor sees the city’s future, the future of the airport, of the passenger services, future of the access to the Arctic zone."

Yamal’s authorities "would like to see this company among investors in modernization of other regional airports," for example, the airports in Nadym or Noyabrsk, the governor said.

The UrengoiAeroInvest Company earlier announced it would invest in the Novy Urengoi airport’s modernization more than 7 billion rubles ($125 million).

Concession terms and conditions

The local administration announced the competition for the airport’s modernization in late July, 2017. A private investor would build the airport’s new terminal, modernize the runway, equip the airport with boarding bridges and offer passenger services at the international level. Next to the terminal, a company is to organize a parking for 150 vehicles. A binding condition is - during the reconstruction the air hub should continue serving flights.

After the reconstruction is over, the airport will serve about 800 passengers an hour - instead of 150-200 currently. The runway will be suitable for all types of mid-haul passenger planes. The reconstruction’s term is next 3.5 years. Under the agreement, the investor would rent the facilities for 30 years, and after that time, they will again become the region’s property.

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Arctic airport in search of investors

The agreement reads, if the airport serves 1.45 million passengers a year, a second stage of reconstruction is optional. At that stage, the works will include organization of an international terminal and reconstruction of the airport’s building to boost the service capacity to 1,200 passengers an hour. In that case, the runway would be extended to three kilometers to serve a wider range of international destinations.

Novy Urengoi’s airport serves flights to more than 40 destinations, carrying about one million passengers a year. Yamal’s governor said earlier, the modernized airport could become an international hub.

About the forum

The Russian Investment Forum, which features Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, is a traditional platform for presentation of Russia’s investment and economic potential. The contracts, signed at the forum in 2017, were worth 490 billion rubles ($8.7 billion).

The event’s organizer is Roscongress. TASS is a General Information Partner and the photo hosting agency.

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