Georgian section of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway presented

Georgian Economy Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov attended the presentation of the Georgian section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and observed the test run of a train on Jan. 28.

The presentation took place in Javakheti, Kartsakhi.

Marabda-Kartsakhi Railway director Oleg Bichiashvili, Samtskhe-Javakheti Governor Akaki Machutadze and other officials attended the presentation.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is recognized as one of the most important projects implemented by Georgia, Turkey and Azerbaijan, the Georgian Ministry of Economy told Trend.

Kvirikashvili and Mammadov reviewed the completed work and stressed the importance of the project and its prospects.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being constructed on the basis of the Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish inter-state agreement.

Azerbaijan has allocated a loan worth $ 775 million for construction of the Georgian section. SOFAZ finances the project in accordance with the decree of the President of Azerbaijan 'On the implementation of the activities of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project' dated February 21, 2007.

Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India show interest in this project.

Peak capacity of the corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo. This figure will be at the level of one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo at the initial stage. (Trend.az)