Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

Azerbaijan's Transport Ministry has announced the expenditure on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project. About $151.5 million lent by the Azerbaijani government was spent in 2012.

Around $431.3 million was spent in 2007-2012 as part of the railway construction, according to the ministry's report on 2012.

The project aims to link directly the railway systems of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to transport large amounts of cargo and passengers. The railway is being built in accordance with an inter-governmental agreement reached by the three countries.

Azerbaijan allocated a loan worth $775 million to construct the Georgian section of the regional railway. The State Oil Fund finances this project in accordance with the presidential decree on implementing measures within the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project, dated February 21, 2007.

The State Oil Fund allocated $403.3 million since the start of financing the project until October 1, 2012.

It is planned to construct a new 105-kilometer railway section as part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project. Moreover, the Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Marabda railway section will be reconstructed in Georgia, which will increase its capacity to 15 million tons of cargo per year. It is also planned to build a center in Akhalkalaki for the transition of trains from the existing train tracks in Georgia to the European ones.

The BTK 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.

The railway will be fully commissioned in 2014, according to Azerbaijan Railways chairman Arif Asgarov.

The railway, which is called a construction of the century, is gaining interest and may become an even larger regional route.

In 2007, Azerbaijan allocated a $200 million loan to Georgia for 25 years, with an interest rate of one percent, to finance the construction and rehabilitation of the Georgian section of the railway. An agreement to allocate additional $575 million to the Georgian side was signed in July 2011. These funds were allocated for a period of 25 years, at a rate of five percent.