MOTOR WAY DUSHANBE – KHUJAND – CHANAK TO BE PUT INTO OPERATION AS SCHEDULED

              Dushanbe, May 13. (NIAT "Khovar", Kristina Ehrlich). — The motor way Dushanbe — Khujand — Chanak will be put into operation in June this year, as scheduled. This is the first stage of the great project on the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the highway between the Tajik capital and the Uzbek border. Road builders have to construct and restore 345 kilometers of road-bed. The cost of the first stage is US $168m.                "The works are practically approaching the end", says the Executive Director of the Project "The Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of the Motorway Dushanbe — Khujand — Chanak — Uzbek Border" Qodir Saidov. "The final putting of the highway into operation will take place in September, 2011, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the state independence of Tajikistan".                 The total cost of the project is US $295.9m. Of that sum, the Exports & Imports Bank of China will fund US $281.1m, while the remaining US $14.8m will be the share of the Tajik Government. The second and third stages of the project are slated to be finished by July, 2010. Then, for about a year the road will be under testing.