Yerevan /Mediamax/. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Board of Directors approved funding for the North-South Road Corridor Investment Program, which will connect by a speed highway the northern and the southern borders of Armenia.

Mediamax reports referring the official website of ADB that the bank has approved allocation of the initial loan tranche of $60 million earmarked to reconstruct an 18 kilometer section of the road corridor between the capital city Yerevan, and Ashtarak to the north, and improve safety of Yerevan to Ararat road to the south.

The total investment cost for the seven-year program is $962 million, $500 of which will be allocated from the loan means of ADB, and the remaining part of the program will be funded by the Government of Armenia and other investors.

The highway will connect towns Agarak (border with Iran), Kapan, Yerevan, Bavra road which links with Georgia’s southern corridor. The Georgian section of the highway will connect the Armenian border with the Black Sea ports of Poti and Batumi. Implementation of the program is planned to be completed in 2016.

The loan has a 32-year term with an 8-year grace period carrying a 1% per annum interest charge, rising to 1.5% for the remainder of the period.