China to almost double investment volume in Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway - source

MOSCOW, May 8. /TASS/. China is ready to invest 104 bln rubles ($2.03 bln) in Moscow-Kazan high-speed railway project company, twice the previously stated investment. The sum is included in the memorandum on cooperation on the development of high-speed railway network in Russia, a source close to the document preparation told TASS Friday. "The total amount of Chinese investment in the memorandum is 104 bln rubles ($2.03 bln) in the form of a contribution to the charter capital of the SPV-company," the source said, commenting on the scheduled for today Russian-Chinese memorandum on the high-speed railway project. Russia and China signed a memorandum Friday during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow. The total cost of the Moscow-Kazan project amounts to 1 trillion rubles ($19.65 bln). It will become the first Russian project in the framework of the creation of "Silk Road" economic zones - transport, energy and trade corridor between Central and South Asia and Europe. China plans to allocate $40 bln through a special fund. Chinese investors earlier said it was ready to invest in the project 250 bln rubles ($4.9 bln) in loans and 52 bln rubles ($1.02 bln) in the form of a contribution to the SPV-company. As a source told TASS, during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow Russian Railways may sign an agreement with the Chinese partners on the establishment of the SPV-company, which, in particular, will be able to attract the contractors for the project on a competitive basis. The Moscow-Kazan railroad may later be extended to China, and become the high-speed rail Moscow-Beijing, connecting the two countries across Kazakhstan. The transport scheme could become part of the route of a new Silk Road project, which is aimed at tying China with the European and Middle Eastern markets. The Sino-Russian consortium becomes the only bidder for Moscow - Kazan High Speed Railway engineering, Russian Railways said on Friday in its tender documentation posted on the website. "The bid was received by the deadline set forth in the tender documentation from OAO Mosgiprotrans - the representative of the bidder with several legal entities acting on its side, that is, Mosgiprotrans, Nizhegorodmetroproekt [Russian design institutes - TASS], and China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co. Ltd.," Russian Railways said. The Moscow-Kazan High Speed Railway’s total length will stand at around 770 kilometers. Trains may go at a speed of 350-400 kilometers per hour, and the time en route between the two cities could be 3-3.5 hours against the current 14 hours. The Moscow-Kazan railroad may later be extended to China, connecting the two countries across Kazakhstan. The transport scheme could become part of the route of a new Silk Road project, which is aimed at tying China with the European and Middle Eastern markets The Moscow-Kazan railroad’s total length will stand at around 770 kilometers, trains could go at a speed of 350-400 kilometers per hour, and the time en route between the two cities could be 3-3.5 hours against the current 14 hours. Read more