Kazakhstan : Aktau-Beineu Road Project

Transport / Road transport (non-urban)

The TA will provide the agreed design and feasibility study that will make the Project suitable for ADB financing as well as Kazakhstan national standards and regulations.

TA consultants will (i) duly review the engineering design, technical standards, alignment, and procurement documentation, following ADB guidelines and policies, and Kazakhstan standards and regulations; (ii) develop sub-components to help distribute project benefits to the poor; and (iii) assist the EA with public consultations and socioeconomic surveys to ensure that local residents' needs are incorporated in the project design.

Completed outputs include (i) draft final report (DFR), (ii) feasiblity study; (iii) land acquisition and resettlement framework and plans (LARF and LARPs); (iii) environment assessment review framework (EARF), and initial environment examination (IEE).

Mangystau Oblast is Kazakhstan's major oil- and mineral-producing region on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Aktau, Mangystau's capital, is a regional hub for transporting the Caspian's bulky cargoes of oil and oil products to European and Asian countries, and for transit traffic connecting the surrounding oilfield developers to other countries. Aktau is an integral part of three international transport corridors-- Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia, North-South, and Inogate. Cargo transported across the Caspian Sea amounts to 30 million tons, of which 38% is via Aktau port. Consequently, investments have been poured in pipelines, shipping services, and Aktau port. As spillover traffic from the pipeline and the transport of goods increase, roads become indispensable.

More than half of the road surface in Mangystau Oblast is gravel or earth, and most of the paved sections are severely deteriorated and impassable. Traffic on the Akau-Beineu road has grown by 7% annually. Despite its strategic role as an arterial route, most of the road is in bad shape, as steep slopes and sharp turns limit the allowable speed. Congestion occurs daily, and the actual axle load of vehicles exceeds the road's design capacity. The road's inadequate serviceability and the consequent 12-hour travel time between Aktau and Beineu bloat transport costs and restrict trade.

An investment program based on the Government's transport sector strategy will be developed to improve CAREC Corridor 2 roads in Mangystau Oblast. The investment program roads will connect Kazakhstan to Azerbaijan, and Europe through the Caspian Sea to the west; to the Russian Federation to the north; to Uzbekistan to the southeast; and to Turkmenistan to the south. The investment program will effectively responds to bottlenecks, risks, and mitigation measures, which were assessed in the road map.