Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Monday it is necessary to finish all the projects started under the previous government, in remarks after reviewing the progress in the construction of the Georgian section of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.

Saakashvili also inspected the construction of a new railway station in Akhalkalaki.

He expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the work on this facility was suspended.

The Georgian president demanded that such an important project be finished under the terms that were previously agreed.

Earlier in March, Turkish Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said that by October 2013, most of the construction work within the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project will be completed.

"It is expected that the first test train will be sent via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway by late 2013," Yildirim said.

Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov earlier told journalists that the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway under a project that is important for increasing the region's transit potential is rapidly continuing. According to Mammadov, the construction of artificial facilities on Georgia's s border with Turkey in Akhalkalaki, building of railway stations in Akhalkalaki and Kartsakhi, construction of a 4.2-kilometer tunnel on the Turkey-Georgia border and reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the Marabda-Akhalkalaki region are underway.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being built on the basis of the Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish agreement. Azerbaijan provided a loan worth $775 million for the construction of the Georgian section of the rail line.

Funding for the project from the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan is provided according to a relevant presidential decree dated February 21, 2007.

$431.3 million has been allocated from the start of funding the project until January 1, 2013.

It is planned to construct a new 105 kilometer branch railroad within the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project. In addition, the Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Marabda railway will be reconstructed in Georgia, which will increase the capacity to 15 million tons of cargo per year. It is envisioned to build a center in Akhalkalaki for the transition of trains from the existing train tracks in Georgia to the European system.

Peak capacity of the corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo. The figure will initially be 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.