Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 3
By Orkhan Guluzade – Trend:
A new international terminal for the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway is being built in the Turkish province of Kars, Gazetekars newspaper reported Aug. 3.
With this purpose, the old building of the railway station is being demolished in the province, according to the newspaper.
In addition, construction of a logistics center in Kars continues.
The BTK railway is being constructed on the basis of the Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.
Eighty seven percent of the BTK railway has been constructed in Turkey, Ahmet Arslan, Turkish minister of transport, shipping and communications, said earlier.
Azerbaijan allocated a loan of $775 million for the construction of the railway's Georgian section. SOFAZ finances the project in accordance with the Azerbaijani president's decree 'On the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project activities', dated Feb. 21, 2007.
The peak capacity of the railway will be 17 million tons of cargo per year.
“Once the BTK railway is commissioned, it will transport five million tons of cargo a year, but the figure can rise up to 17 million tons in the future,” Javid Gurbanov, head of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC, said earlier.
He added that the Georgian section of the BTK railway will be constructed by late 2016.
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