China to Lend Over 6 Bln USD for Russia's Moscow-Kazan High Speed Rail

Russian Railway company announced on Friday that China has agreed to provide a 400 billion-ruble ($6.2 billion) loan for Russia's Moscow–Kazan High-Speed Rail Project.

The decision was made after a Russian-Chinese working group on high-speed railway cooperation met in Beijing this week. Russian and Chinese delegations were led by Russian Railways First Vice-President Alexander Misharin and China Railway Vice General Manager Huang Min respectively, according to Russian Railways.

"The Chinese side will provide a financial loan equivalent to 250 billion rubles for the Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod section and an amount equivalent to 150 billion rubles for the Nizhny Novgorod-Kazan section. The sides discussed possibilities of financing the project in US dollars and in yuan," the company said in a statement.

As part of the agreement, China will also provide 53 billion rubles in equity financing, the statement added.

In March this year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, at the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), invited Chinese business to particiapte in the implementation of high-speed rail projects in Russia. The project includes the Moscow–Kazan railway and a high-speed railway between Samara and Tolyatti.