Sber will participate in the financing of a new route between Moscow and St. Petersburg
Russia’s biggest bank, Sber, is ready to participate in the financing of a new Moscow-St. Petersburg high-speed rail project along with several other major lenders, vice-chairman of the board Anatoly Popov announced on Thursday.
Construction of the 650km line received President Vladimir Putin’s approval last week. Russian banks VEB.RF and Gazprombank have already announced their readiness to take part in the financing and construction of the project, which is estimated at 1.7 trillion rubles ($18 billion).
“For Russia, with its vast distances, such a project is extremely important. The Moscow-St. Petersburg high-speed line is the beginning of the development of a network of such highways,” Popov told reporters.
He noted that the new route will cut the travel time between the two cities to 2 hours and 15 minutes. The trip currently takes about four hours…