Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27
By Rufiz Hafizoglu – Trend:
Construction of a logistics center within the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway project has been implemented by 30 percent, the Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications of Turkey told Trend Nov. 27.
The BTK railway, which was commissioned October 30, will turn the Kars province into one of the most important logistics centers of Turkey, the ministry noted.
Construction of a logistics center in the province is underway, according to the ministry.
“Currently, the work is also underway to create industrial towns in the province of Kars,” the ministry said.
The project’s estimated cost is 94.3 million Turkish liras (about $23.94 million as of Nov. 27).
Earlier, Turkey’s Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications told Trend that a 300,000 square meters land plot was allotted for the construction of the logistics center.
Around 412,000 tons of cargo are expected to be transported through the logistics center annually.
An agreement on the creation of the logistics center was signed on July 19, during the visit of Head of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Javid Gurbanov to the Kars province, when he had familiarized himself with the progress of the BTK project.
The official opening ceremony of the BTK railway was held in Baku Oct.30. The BTK railway was constructed on the basis a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.
The railway’s peak capacity will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At an initial stage, this figure will be one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.
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