Construction consortium conquers in contract for Moscow-St Petersburg highway section

A consortium has won a key construction and concession contract in Russia for a stretch of the Moscow-St Petersburg highway. The construction consortium comprises contractor 5177 Vinci and Russian Bank 3012 VTB. The deal involves around US$1.7 billion of public financing for the construction phase and some $983 million for operation for the period of the contract. The concession package involves construction of the highway section, as well as operation for a 24 year period. The construction work will be carried out between 2017 and 2017. The 139km highway section will feature four and six lanes at different stretches along its length and the project also involves the construction of 52 bridges in all.