DUSHANBE, February 12, 2010, Asia-Plus — Specialists from France’s companies Alpha Airport and SOFEMA Group will resume construction of a new international terminal at the Dushanbe airport within the next few days, the source at the Dushanbe airport told Asia-Plus today.
According to him, construction of the terminal was suspended some two weeks ago because of a dispute on grade of concrete. French specialists were proposing to use 350 grade concrete for construction of the terminal, while Tajik specialists were insisting on use of 200 grade concrete, because this type of concrete is used in Tajikistan for construction of high-rise buildings. The French side also demanded that the building materials delivery should be exempted from taxes and customs duties.
The source at the airport noted that representatives from the Dushanbe airport and French specialists met yesterday and reached an agreement on use of 200 grade concrete for construction of the terminal.
“All necessary documents have been sent to relevant institutions and organizations and French specialists will resume construction of the terminal after they receive all necessary documents,” the source said.
We will recall that the terminal is being built with financial support from the Government of France.
French army engineers have resurfaced the runway at the Dushanbe airport. In addition to resurfacing the runway and other areas of the Dushanbe airport, France has provided Tajikistan a long-term, low interest 20 million euros loan to fund the 27.5 million euros construction of the new terminal. Tajik Government’s contribution the project is 7.5 million euros and it has contributed 1.5 million euros to this day.
Specialists say the project will bring the Dushanbe airport up to international air traffic standards.
