The road is part of Armenia’s 560km section of the 7,200km multi-mode International North-South Transport Corridor, a strategic connectivity project in Central Asia and Europe to move freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Ukraine.
The five tunnels will account for more than 12km of the Sisian-Karajan road, with one tunnel measuring 8.6km. The road will also include 27 bridges.
The project’s 487bn dram (US$1bn) price tag makes it Armenia’s largest investment since the country gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The government hopes to appoint a building contractor by the end of this year.
