EBRD Approves $60 Million for Kvesheti-Kobi Project

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) approved  $ 60 million financial resources to co-finance the construction of a 9km tunnel located on the Jinvali-Larsi Road (North-South Corridor).

According to the Ministry of Infrastructure of Georgia, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has already allocated a $415 million for construction of Kvesheti–Kobi road and tunnel, and the state co-financing will be US $ 83.6 million. A new 23-km bypass road from Kvesheti to Kobi will be built to allow more traffic to travel on it safely, and will remain fully operational all year; it will also provide 5km of all-weather rural roads that will serve roadside villages. The Project will include five tunnels with a total length of about 11.6 km (the longest of which is about 9 km), and six bridges with a total length of about 1.6 km.

9km long Kvesheti-Kobi tunnel will be 15 meters in wide, which is quite rare, not only in the South Caucasus but also worldwide, and will be in the list of tunnels with the largest diameter. The total cost of construction of the Kvesheti-Kobi road and tunnel is GEL 1.2 billion.