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Brest-Minsk-Russian border highway improvement signing
The Republic of Belarus and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development have signed a loan agreement of US$ 30.0 million plus DM 36.5 million (ECU 45.0 million equivalent) to finance the repair and upgrading of the highest priority sections of the M1/E30 highway which links Moscow, Minsk, Warsaw and Berlin. The Republic of Belarus will invest a further US$ 29.6 million (ECU 26 million equivalent) in the project.
The Belarussian Ministry of Road Construction and Maintenance has already begun to implement the project, having created at the beginning of this year, a new, commercially-oriented entity, Belavtostrada. Currently state-owned, Belavtostrada will manage the M1/E30 highway under an Agency Agreement with the Ministry of Road Construction and Maintenance.
Jacques de Larosière, President of the EBRD, said "This project is an important step in the transition of the Belarussian highway sector. Once the necessary laws are in place it is expected that Belavtostrada will become a joint-stock company and, in due course, will attract private sector management and finance."
It will be responsible for the repair and upgrading of approximately 230 km of the strategic M1/E30 highway. To repay the loan road user tolls will be introduced and competitive bidding for civil works will be put in place to foster the demonopolisation and corporatisation of the current state-owned road construction trusts. Cross-border trade should be increased due to improved facilities and reduced delays at the Brest border crossing.
If implementation of this initial project proceeds well, the EBRD will consider a possible follow-on project, which might include rehabilitation and upgrading of the remaining sections of the M1/E30, in conjunction with Belavtostrada's transition to a commercially-oriented corporate entity.
The M1/E30 highway across Belarus forms part of the Trans-European Motorway Network. Complementary improvements to other sections of the corridor, in Poland and in Russia, are under preparation with the assistance of the EBRD and other international financial institutions.
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