Azernews.Az

Investments in the ongoing construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Gars railway are to be increased, Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov told journalists.
According to Mammadov, the increase in funding is due to the insufficient amount of the loan that Azerbaijan had allocated to neighboring Georgia for construction operations. Officials from the two South Caucasus republics, as well as Turkey, the other participant in the $600 million project, met in Istanbul Sunday to discuss the issue.
Azerbaijan earlier allocated a $200 million, 25-year loan to the Marabda-Kartsakh Railways LLC, with interest set annually at 1%, for the construction of a 29 km-long railway section in Georgia and a tire replacement facility on the country`s border with Turkey, as well as an upgrade of the existing infrastructure in the neighboring South Caucasus republic.
Mammadov emphasized that construction of the railway is underway despite the economic crisis. The operations are being carried out in three stages.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Gars railway will create the shortest route to transport cargo between Europe and Asia, reviving the historic Silk Road trade route. The three host countries signed an agreement on building the rail line in February 2007 and construction work began in November that year. The project is scheduled for completion in 2011.
The railway will initially transport 5 million tons of cargo, with the figure to be increased to 20 million tons in the future. Mostly dry cargo will be transported through the route. Passenger trains, as well, will travel from Baku to Turkey.