OREANDA-NEWS.  February 20, 2012. As part of the 9th Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum State Corporation ‘Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)’, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the EBRD) and the Administration of Novosibirsk signed a Memorandum on Cooperation.

Under the Memorandum the parties agreed to promote cooperation that provides for a potential joint participation in preparing and implementing a project to construct a high-speed tramway on the principles of public private partnership (PPP).

The Memorandum provides for the Administration to conduct a feasibility study of investments, assess the project’s potential impact on the environment and the socio-economic situation; analyze the financial structure and possible PPP options. Vnesheconombank and the EBRD are ready to assist in preparing technical specifications to do the said research.

In the course of implementing the project the parties intend to actively cooperate in preparing financial structure and legal documentation including a concession agreement as well as in organizing a tender for selecting a concessioner.

In their turn the EBRD and Vnesheconombank are ready to explore the possibility of funding the project after an expert examination of it has been conducted.

A high-speed tramway will be a system of urban rail public transportation which will connect the city’s northern and southern parts through the Ob River as well as the existing 15-kilometer underground with other city’s main districts. This project’s implementation would make it possible to provide the city’s residents with top quality public transportation which is alternative to using personal automobiles.