Azerbaijan, Baku, 5 June / corr. Trend I. Khalilova/ The cost of the project to construct North-South transport corridor should be reconsidered within the ongoing price rise processes, therefore Russia plans to update its feasibility study, Arif Asgarov, head of State Railway of Azerbaijan (SRA) said. The cost of the project will be considered in the next meeting of the working group.
According to Asgarov, the cost of the part of railway that accounts for Azerbaijan has increased insignificantly, as its length makes up only 18km (including station tracks). The section of Astara station ( Azerbaijan) makes up 7.5km. The preliminary expenditures for the construction was valued at $20mln, but now it will reach $30-$40mln, a source in State Railway of Azerbaijan said.
"If a ton of rails was purchased at $600 earlier, now Russian manufactures sell them at $1,200-$1,300," Asgarov said. "There have been a rise in all railway items, therefore, it is difficult to predict the cost of project as a result of the price rise," he said.
The North-South transport corridor envisages establishment of a unified railway transport from Europe through Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran to India and South-East Asia. According to the preliminary estimations, the project costs over $400mln. Much of the works account for Iran, who does not possess railway transport till borders with Azerbaijan.
According to head of SRA, some 5mln tons of cargo a year is expected to be transported in the first stage and it will reach 15mln tons a year in 5 years.
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