The Libyan House of Representatives in Tobruk said that the committee responsible for organizing world conference to reconstruct Benghazi has started sending invitations to regional, local and international companies.
The announcement was made at a time when Deputy Prime Minister of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) Ahmed Omar Maiteeq called on Russia to participate in reconstructing his country.
The companies are invited to provide their visions for the reconstruction of Benghazi, amid estimates that it will cost some nine billion dollars.
He noted that Russia played a more active role in Libya in recent months, saying that its actions were aimed at “renouncing violence, achieving peace and restoring Libyan institutions.”
Maiteeq made his remarks on the sidelines of the Mediterranean Dialogues (MED 2017) forum in Rome.
He added that Libya expects Russia to take part in the post-conflict reconstruction of Libya, reported the Russia’s Sputnik news agency.
"Now most of the Russian projects in Libya are still suspended or out of work, but next year will see a trend towards development and reconstruction in Libya and we hope Russia will participate in that," he said.
For his part, member of the House of Representatives Issam al-Jahani told Asharq Al-Awsat that "there was no accurate reading of the extent of the destruction that has been inflicted on Benghazi until now."
He pointed out that the city has "suffered before the war on terrorism from infrastructure deficiencies, which have increased after the war.”
The Libyan-Egyptian Economic Chamber has already revealed "intensive contacts" with the Egyptian government to participate in reconstruction projects in Libya at an estimated cost of $9 billion.
Head of the Libyan side, Hani Soufrakis said that the Central Bank of Libya has approved this amount to fund projects to reconstruct Libyan cities in the east of the country.
Jahani noted however that the cost for the reconstruction of Benghazi “will exceed this figure, given the size of the destruction in the city.”
He pointed out that it has not yet been determined whether this cost will include the reconstruction of fully damaged properties, or if it will be limited to the renovation process alone.
