A 50-50 joint venture (JV) between Turkish firm IC Ictas and Italian construction company Astaldi has signed a €1.1bn contract to build 140km of the Moscow to St Petersburg motorway in Russia.

The JV will carry out the design and construction of two motorway lots, as well as work as a general contractor and on behalf of Two Capitals Highway, comprising VTB Group and Vinci Concessions.

Two Capitals Highway was awarded the agreement to build and manage the motorway by Avtodor, the state company responsible for building and developing Russia’s toll motorway network.

"The JV will carry out the design and construction of two motorway lots, as well as work as a general contractor and on behalf of Two Capitals Highway."

The motorway is set to play a major role for the country’s infrastructure development, particularly in light of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which will be hosted in Russia.

Work to be carried out by the JV will cover lots seven and eight of the motorway, which will form corridor nine of the Trans-European transport network.

The route will have both six-lane and four-lane sections, with traffic travelling at a maximum speed of 150km/h.

Work under the project will be initiated by the end of this month and is expected to take 35 months for completion.

The Astaldi-Ictas JV is already working on the Western High-Speed Diameter project in St Petersburg.