Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 30
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
Some $464.1 million were allocated from the beginning of funding of the project on Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway's construction by the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ), a message posted on the Fund's official website said on Jan.29.
The message said that SOFAZ allocated some $32.7 million to the project in 2013 compared to $151.5 million in 2012.
Funds allocated to Azerbaijan's Ministry of Transport, with Azerbaijani International Bank's help in line with the agreement signed between Azerbaijani and Georgian governments were transferred to Marabda-Kartsakhi Railway LLC, created for the design, construction, rehabilitation, reconstruction and operation of the Marabda-Turkish border railway section and relevant infrastructure facilities.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being constructed on the basis of Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.
Azerbaijan has allocated a loan worth $ 775 million for construction of the Georgian section. Funding of the project by SOFAZ is carried out in accordance with the decree of the President of Azerbaijan 'On the implementation of the project activities of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars' dated February 21, 2007.
It is planned to construct a new 105-kilometer branch of the railroad as part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project. In addition, the railway's Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Marabda section will be reconstructed in Georgia, which will increase its capacity to 15 million tons of cargo per year. It is planned to build a post in Akhalkalaki for the transition of trains from the existing tracks in Georgia to the European ones.
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.