The United Kingdom will allocate 680 million pounds ($872 million) to enable the completion of a 177-mile-long high-speed electric railway in southern Turkey, the UK government's export credit agency said on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th July, 2023) The United Kingdom will allocate 680 million pounds ($872 million) to enable the completion of a 177-mile-long high-speed electric railway in southern Turkey, the UK government's export credit agency said on Monday.
"UK Export Finance (UKEF), the UK government's export credit agency, has underwritten ��781m of financing - equivalent to �680m - to support construction of a 286km (177 miles) high-speed electric railway in southern Turkey," the agency said in a statement.
The rail track will connect the city of Mersin with the cities of Adana, Osmaniye and and Gaziantep. Its final construction will be carried out by Turkey's Ronesans Holding with the funds provided through UKEF's Buyer Credit Facility.
"Offering a lower-emission transport link between Turkey's second-largest container port and inland cities over 150 miles away, the railway is expected to reduce CO2e emissions by over 150,000 tonnes a year," the statement read.
UKEF collaborated with J.P. Morgan, ING Bank and BNP Paribas, which provided the loan, as well as with SACE and OeKB, the Italian and Austrian export credit agencies that provided reinsurance, to make this deal possible for Turkish rail infrastructure, the UK government added.
The project will also help with the restoration of areas affected by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake, which hit Turkey in February.
