Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said Monday that Georgia does not intend to stop the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway -- which aims to link the railway systems of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to transport large amounts of cargo and passengers, Azerbaijani Trend news agency reported.

"No one is going to stop the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. On the contrary, we intend to contribute to its construction," Ivanishvili said.

He stressed that the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project is "very interesting" from a geopolitical point of view, but there are questions in economic terms.

"The construction of the new railway may cause an outflow of goods from Georgian ports and from the Georgian railway, so we need to consult with our neighbors, especially with Azerbaijan," he said.

Ivanishvili said that the money is spent on the Georgian Railway development and this raises some questions. "My questions have reached their addressee, and we will discuss these problems," he said.

He said there are many issues around the project and therefore he intends to discuss them during his visit to Baku on Wednesday.

Ivanishvili earlier said that on his visit to Azerbaijan he would have to "very softly explain to our friendly country that at some stage this project would not be suitable for us". Ivanishvili told Resonance newspaper that the issue, however, "will be very complicated", because the construction work has started, and added that Georgia has to respect the commitments assumed by the neighboring countries.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being built in accordance with an inter-governmental agreement reached by Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, the three countries it will cross. It is expected to be fully commissioned in 2014.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Azerbaijani Transport Ministry earlier expressed concern over Ivanishvili's statements on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project.

President Saakashvili voiced concern over possible suspension of the railway construction, which he considers extremely important for the development of Tbilisi's European integration policy. According to Saakashvili, such initiatives by the premier and the government estrange the country from Europe and bond Georgia with Russia based on "an enslaving relationship". He demanded that such issues be put on public discussion.

Azerbaijani Transport Ministry, for its part, made a statement regarding the doubts of effectiveness of the Kars-Akhalkalaki railway for Georgia on Sunday.

"Without any doubt, Baku-Tbilisi-Kars is a railway project of regional and global scale. The Kars-Akhalkalaki railway is one of the segments of this project," spokesman Namig Hasanov said.

Hasanov said the legal basis for the project is a tripartite statement by the leaders of the countries involved and an agreement between the governments of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

"According to the current statement, the sides took upon themselves the duties of this project's implementation. As is known, on the basis of this agreement, the Azerbaijani government provided a $775 million soft loan for the implementation of the Georgian part of the project," Hasanov noted.

He added that most regional states, countries of Central Asia and Europe have expressed great interest in the project and supported its implementation.

Hasanov said Azerbaijan is confident this project is of tremendous strategic and economic importance for the development of the region and beyond.

"It should be noted that after its implementation, this project will become a part of the regional security system," Hasanov said.

He noted that Azerbaijan has always fulfilled its obligations under international agreements, and expects the same approach from its partners.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will increase the flow of containers and other types of cargo from Asia to Europe. Its throughput capacity will peak at 17 million tons of cargo per year. Initially, the capacity will be 6.5 million tons of consignments and 1 million passengers.