Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has chosen a single contractor to design and construct a transport bridge via the Kerch Straits to Crimea. The maximum cost of construction is set as 228.3 bn rubles.
As a statement announcing the decision runs, the contractor, Stroygazmontazh LLC, was chosen under a special procedure, without a tender procedure, due to the time constraint. The company as the parent organization of the SGM Group of Companies specializing in pipeline and sea construction. Owners of the group are Russian billionaires, brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenbergs.
At the same time, the government approved essence of the government-funded contract. The document fixes the maximum cost of the works. It will be 212.5 bn rubles in 2015 prices, and 228.3 bn rubles with application of estimated deflation indices to the whole construction period. The same sum was cited in official documents last year.
By June 30, the contractor is to complete engineering survey and project documentation development for submitting it for regulatory compliance review. Road traffic through the bridge and temporary railroad operation are to be launched on December 18, 2018.
Construction of the combined road and railway bridge via the Kerch Straits is expected to become the largest infrastructure project of the Russian government in Crimea in next years. The length of the bridge will be about 19 km.