Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijani and Georgian foreign ministers are satisfied with progress of the project of constructing Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, ministers Elmar Mammadyarov and Grigol Vashadze said at a joint press conference in Tbilisi on Friday.

"This project will be completed on time. The course of its implementation does not cause concern," Mammadyarov stressed.

"We will launch the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway in 2012", he said.

Vashadze noted that a number of economic issues, including the railway construction, were discussed at the ministerial. "We considered the whole range of our economic relations," he said.

A new 105-kilometer railroad section will be constructed as a part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. About 76 kilometers will stretch via Turkey, 29 kilometers through Georgia. Moreover, an Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Marabda railway section will be reconstructed in Georgia to increase transport capacity up to 15 million tons of cargo a year.

The constriction will be completed in the first half of 2012, Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov said earlier. He said despite the previously agreed terms of the implementation of the project, the sides are working to accelerate the process and complete most of the work by late 2011.

The peak capacity of the corridor will hit 17 million tons. Initially, the figure will hit 6.5 million tons of cargo.