Russia and Ukraine to Lay Railway Tunnel Under Black Sea

Russia and Ukraine are going to build a railway tunnel under the Kerch strait, linking the Black and Azov seas. Its annual throughput capacity will be 15 million passengers and 150 million tonnes of cargo. The 15 kilometer-long tunnel will connect two sea ports on the Russia and Ukrainian shores of the strait.

In March the governments of Russia and Ukraine will get ready for inking an intergovernmental tunnel-building agreement, the RIA Novosti correspondent quotes the project designers as saying.

The tunnel's three drifts will lie 90 meters below the bed of the Kerch strait. The tunnel, named Crimea-Kuban, will ensure non-stop cargo and passenger railage. The 780 million-dollar project will recoup expenses by the westerly transportation of Caspian oil.

The tunnel will be built on borrowed money and will not call for budgetary expenses by Russia or Ukraine. Construction will begin this summer and may take 3.5 years.