Finns, Russians to build highway in Karelia
A group Finnish, Russian, and international investors plan to build a four-lane highway from Finland deep into Russia. The project, worth billions of euros, is motivated by transhipping opportunities in the region.
A privately funded four-lane toll highway might soon stretch from Parikkala, Eastern Finland, through Petrozavodsk, North-Western Russia, deep into Russia.
The Russian Republic of Karelia and a private development company Northwest Development Corridor, which leads a group of private investors, signed a contract committing them to the plan on Friday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
The company’s chief executive Dmitri Belkin says the main contractor for the over 200 billion rubles (4.6 billion euro) project will be Finnish. The road is scheduled to be completed in six years time after building starts. Belkin says the investors are motivated by the lucrative transhipping business in Russia.
