Baku, Azerbaijan, May 6
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
From the beginning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars new railway project, about $470.6 million (as of April 1, 2014) was allocated by the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan, the fund's official website said.
In accordance with the agreement signed between Azerbaijan and Georgia, the funds were transferred through Azerbaijan's International Bank to the "Marabda-Kartsakhi Railway" LLC, which was established to design, construct, rehabilitate, reconstruct and commission the Marabda railway site on the Turkish border as well as other relevant pieces of infrastructure.
As the report said, SOFAZ has allocated $6.5 million to the project's implementation in the first quarter of 2014.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being constructed in accordance with an Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.
Azerbaijan has allocated around $775 million for the construction of the Georgian site. Financing for this project by the State Oil Fund is carried out in accordance to Azerbaijani president's decree "On the implementation of the project activities of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars" from February 21, 2007.
It is planned to construct a new 105 kilometers long branch of the "Baku-Tbilisi-Kars" railway. In addition, the site of "Marabda-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi" railway in Georgia will be reconstructed, which will increase its capacity to 15 million tons per year.
It is also planned to construct a station in Akhalkalaki for the transition of trains from Georgian tracks to the European ones.
The peak capacity of the corridor will equal around 17 million tons of cargo. Initially, this figure will be at a the level of 1 million passengers and about 6.5 million tons of cargo.
Translated by S.I.
Edited by S.I.
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