The Construction of a New Bridge is Another Testament to Armenian-Georgian Friendship – Irakli Karseladze

The Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure of Georgia, Irakli Karseladze, considers the construction of a new bridge over the Debed River at the Sadakhlo-Bagratashen checkpoint as yet another testament to Armenian-Georgian friendship. The minister expressed this view during a conversation with journalists.

“We have a tradition of building bridges together, and we call these bridges friendship bridges. Now, this approximately 200-meter long bridge has been named the ‘Friendship Bridge,’ which is set to open next year. This is the best infrastructure project that demonstrates how friendly the Armenian and Georgian peoples are,” said Karseladze.

He noted that this is the first joint project but added that there is a basis for discussing joint new projects. Suren Papikyan, the Acting Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia, presented large-scale projects being implemented in Armenia in the field of infrastructure to his Georgian counterpart. Karseladze, in turn, introduced the large-scale projects being carried out in Georgia.

Karseladze emphasized this experience for the implementation of joint projects. “We can say that we are on the path to new joint project implementation,” he noted.

Suren Papikyan also informed that the issue of constructing the bridge had been discussed since 2012, and a loan agreement was signed in 2017, but the works had not happened for important reasons. “As a result of our joint efforts, we were able to ensure that these works took place. The northern direction of Armenia, which intersects not only with Georgia but also with the EAEU countries, including our main partner, the Russian Federation, passes through this bridge. Of course, we have other crossings, but this is the most intensively used route because the road leading to Lars goes through here. Now we are working towards alleviating major passenger transport and freight transport in this direction,” said Papikyan.

He informed that work is currently underway to improve the road leading to Gogavan, and these works are expected to be completed this year. Approximately 40 km of road is being constructed on the Armenian side, while partners constructed their section last year. The construction of the bridge is planned to be completed by May 2022.