Business news

MINSK, 19 April (BelTA) – The South Korean company Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) intends to take part in the tender, which will determine the private partner for reconstructing the M10 motorway as a pilot public private partnership project. The possibility was discussed as representatives of the Korean company met with specialists of the Public Private Partnership Center and the Economy Ministry in the National Agency of Investment and Privatization of Belarus (NAIP) on 19 April, BelTA has learned.

Participants of the meeting discussed the structure of projects, the procedures necessary for taking part in the tender, and further cooperation steps.

The reconstruction of the M10 motorway: the Russian border (Selishche) – Gomel – Kobrin – 109.9km – 195.15km is the first project Belarus intends to implement on public private partnership terms. The road is supposed to become part of the Silk Road. It will be consequently integrated into the European transport system. The pilot project is in the final preparations stage now. Plans have been made to call a tender this year in order to find the private partner and sign the public private partnership agreement. Capital outlays as part of the project are estimated at some $200 million.

If the project to reconstruct the M10 motorway is a success, the Korean investors are ready to consider taking part in other transport projects, too. The construction of a major thoroughfare in Gomel is one of them. The road will be 41.35km long and will include the construction of a bridge over the Sozh River and five crossovers. Capital outlays are estimated at some $180 million.

“The public private partnership agreement has long-term goals in mind. As a rule, it takes about 2.5 years to build such roads. Such roads are then operated for 15-25 years as part of a public private partnership agreement,” noted Alexander Kravchenko, Deputy Head of the Public Private Partnership Center of the National Agency of Investment and Privatization. “One’s own resources and money borrowed from the private partner are used to implement public private partnership projects. The share of one’s own resources and private partner’s depends on peculiarities of the project.”

Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) is a South Korean company specializing in building and operating toll roads. The KEC is now one of the world’s leading companies in the sphere of development of toll roads and IT infrastructure.