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Belarus decides against hiring Chinese company to build second runway at Minsk National Airport

Belarus has decided against hiring a Chinese company to build a second runway at Minsk National Airport, said Deputy Prime Minister Anatol Kalinin.

"A decision has been made that we will build a second runway independently. We have deep all-round cooperation with the Chinese People's Republic in many areas, we will continue it, but we will build the runway on our own," the government's news agency BelTA quoted him as saying.

The deputy prime minister revealed that Belarus wanted to spend $300 million on the project, while China Precision Machinery Import-Export Corporation said that it would charge Minsk $1.2 billion if hired to build the runway.

"We have a different opinion of the cost," said Mr. Kalinin.

Speaking this past April, Alyaksandr Lukashenka suggested that Belarus could build the airport's second runway without the involvement of a foreign investor.

Located 42 kilometers from Minsk, the airport was opened in 1982. Foreign experts estimate that its existing runway will remain safe until 2018. // BelaPAN