YAKUTSK, November 24. /TASS/. Potential investors will present their initiatives on the projects for the construction of an automobile bridge across the Lena River in early December and the regional authorities will consider them within 45 days, Yakutia’s head, Aisen Nikolayev, told TASS on Sunday.
"As far as I know, a number of companies are looking at a private concession initiative and plan to come out with it in early December. In this event, this initiative will be considered by mid-January. If we are satisfied with the concession results, we will be able to choose the concessioner who will implement the project," he said.
Russia’s transport ministry expects Yakutia to submit an amended application concerning the Lena Bridge project to be considered by the commission on public-private partnership at the end of the current year or at the beginning of the next year.
The project for building an automobile bridge across the Lena River in Yakutia has been included into the national program for the development of the Far East. The construction costs are estimated at 83 billion rubles ($1.3 billion). The project may be implemented on the public-private basis. The automobile bridge will make it possible to create a major transport and logistic junction - a railway station, an air hub, a river port and three regional automobile roads. The bridge is expected to triple cargo traffic in the region to 6 million tonnes a year.