BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 25. President of the
Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov took part in the opening ceremony of
the Balykchy–Kochkor railway and the Kochkor railway station in the
Naryn Region.


The information was released by the press service of the
President of Kyrgyzstan.


Japarov arrived at Kochkor station by train, personally
inspecting the new railway route and assessing the quality of the
completed construction work. He then toured the new station
building and reviewed its infrastructure.


In his speech, President Japarov said the day would go down in
the history of independent Kyrgyzstan as another important
milestone.


"We have revived the culture of railway construction, our
engineering potential, and our professional expertise. Our country
is capable of independently implementing major infrastructure
projects," the president stressed.


He also emphasized that the railway had been built entirely by
Kyrgyzstan's own specialists.


"First of all, I would like to emphasize that we are building
this railway with our own resources. During construction, nearly
one million cubic meters of blasting work was carried out, and
eight kilometers of mountainous terrain were cleared. The
construction cost of the railway itself amounted to $955,000 per
kilometer," Japarov said.







For comparison, he noted that foreign companies had proposed
construction costs ranging from $4.8 million to $6.8 million per
kilometer.


"Realizing that this was far too expensive, we decided to take
the risk and, following the principle that 'the road is mastered by
those who walk it,' we undertook the project ourselves.


Another comparison can be made with the alternative North–South
highway. Under the Balykchy–Jalal-Abad project, which stretches for
433 kilometers, the cost was estimated at $2.5 million per
kilometer.


Yet even at that price, the road has still not been completed or
fully commissioned. It is obvious that more than half of that money
was simply embezzled," Japarov stated.


The 63-kilometer Balykchy–Kochkor section is the first phase of
the planned Balykchy–Kara-Keche–Makmal railway line.