Managua Open To Cooperation With Russia On Construction Of Nicaraguan Canal - Moncada

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 29th June, 2023) Managua is willing to cooperate with Russia on building the Nicaragua Canal, Nicaraguan Foreign Minister Denis Moncada said in an interview with Sputnik.

"The Nicaraguan canal interoceanic project is a historic canal project that continues. We're doing a lot of studies at the moment, investigations, evaluations for all the environmental issues. Because it will be crossing the Great lake Nicaragua which is the sweet water lake," Moncada said. "Obviously, we're open for any cooperation from Russia if Russian Federation wants to participate in this project, in the construction of this project. This will be a great project for the world, so that the exchange of goods and everything could be facilitated and communication could be improved.

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Work on the construction of a canal that was supposed to connect the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean and become an alternative to the Panama Canal began in Nicaragua in December 2014. The cost of the project was then estimated at $50 billion, the main investor was China's HKND. The length of the canal was to be almost 280 kilometers, the depth - about 27 meters, the width to vary between 226-530 meters. Some 5.1 thousand ships could pass through it per year. However, in 2018 the project was stopped due to political and economic instability in the country.