Tbilisi, Georgia, Dec.24
By Nana Kirtzkhalia - Trend:
A meeting of the Georgian-Azerbaijani commission for the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will be held soon, Georgian Economy Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said on Dec.24.
"All works are going in accordance to the plan and we are confident that all the commitments made by the Georgian side will be fulfilled in time," the minister said.
"There are no obstacles in the way of construction of the railway," according to the minister.
Despite of the certain problems caused by the weather, the work is going at very high rates, Kvirikashvili said.
Kvirikashvili stressed that Georgia will commission all facilities at its section of BTK in time.
It is expected that the construction of the Baku - Tbilisi - Kars (BTK) railway, which is one of the most important parts of the Caspian transit corridor, will be completed in 2014. In the first stage it will be able to carry one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo. Future capacity of the BTK will increase to three million passengers and 20 million tons of cargo.
The total length of the BTK is 826 kilometers (about 513 miles). After commissioning of the railway mutual trade between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey will increase significantly, the total volume will exceed $ 10 billion per year.
Translated by L.Z.