Turkey, Ankara / Trend corr. A.Ismaylova / The construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which unites the transport systems of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, will be commenced in two months, Turkish President Abdulla Gul said in talks with Azerbaijani journalists in Ankara, Turkey, on 1 November.
"The foundation ceremony of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is expected to take place in two months," the Turkish President said.
The Baku- Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki- Kars project includes the construction of 105km-railway road with 76 km section running via Turkey and 29 km section via Georgia. Moreover, 183 km section of Akhalkalaki-Marabda-Tbilisi railway will be also reconstructed to improve the carrying capacity to 15mln tons of cargo per year. It is planned to build in Akhalkalaki a place for the transition of trains from the track existing in Georgia to the European one.
The project is estimated to $422mln and taking into consideration the accompanying infrastructure its cost will comprise $600mln. Azerbaijan allocated a $200mln credit to Marabda-Kartzakhi Railway for 25 years with 1% interest rate. Credit will be repaid at the expense of the funds received from exploitation of the railway.