...

Iranian company talks progress of Rasht-Astara railway construction

Transport Materials 21 July 2020 16:01 (UTC +04:00)
Iranian company talks progress of Rasht-Astara railway construction

TEHRAN, Iran, July 21

Trend:

Iran is working on procedures for construction of Rasht-Astara railway, said deputy head of Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructure Company of Iran.

Abbas Khatibi has discussed the latest state of Rasht-Astara railway project in an interview with Trend.

"The project has required considerable financial sources due to the size of the project, and we initiated negotiations with Azerbaijan," the deputy head said.

"Azerbaijan has agreed to finance the project and it was expected that high ranking Azerbaijani officials would visit Iran in February to discuss the issue, but the plans were overshadowed by coronavirus spread and following limited travels between the countries," Khatibi added.

"Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters, the project contractor, has offered their proposals to Iran's Plan and Budget Organization. The construction contract will soon be finalized," he said. "The work has started, the land ownership of 7 kilometer in Astara region is obtained, and more than $9.5 million has been assigned to Rasht - Astara railway budget for land ownership."

"All these preparations should naturally contribute to the project progress. Given that the Khatam al-Anbiya Construction Headquarters is the project contractor, the Azerbaijani side will be involved as a contractor. Thus, the entire railway project is executed by Iranian company," he said adding that Iran will possibly buy required equipment from other countries and the other option is that Azerbaijan sells the equipment to Iran and pays the other part of its investment in cash.

In January 2018, the two countries announced that they will jointly finance the construction of Rasht-Astara section in northern Iran. It was agreed that each country will cover 50% of the necessary investment and Azerbaijan will provide $500 million for the project.

The railway between Rasht and Astara will be a part of the International North–South Transport Corridor. The decision to jointly implement the project was made during the 4th meeting of the Working Group on the development of the North-South Western route of the International Transport Corridor held in Baku in Nov. 2019.

Tags:
Latest

Latest