Polish company to construct Baku subway
By Nigar Orujova
Poland’s company TINES will assist in the construction of the new lines of Baku Metro, said Marek Calka, Polish Ambassador to Baku.
Calka added the sides will soon sign a memorandum of understanding. Talks about TINES's participation in this project have taken place over the past two years.
The subway network is developing rapidly in the Azerbaijani capital, now surpassing thirty-five kilometers, with 2 lines and 23 stations. The network is expected to grow to 119 km with 5 lines and up to 76 stations in the next 15 years.
Baku Metro is planning to put into operation five new stations by 2016.
At present, eight stations and two train depots are under construction. French company Bouygues Travaux Publics is active in developing Baku Metro’s lines.
Polish TINES Company is specializing in the supply of safe and low noise design of the upper structure of railway and tram routes, subway lines.
The company has already implemented many large projects in Poland, Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan. The company's technologies are applied in the construction of subway lines in Warsaw, Kyiv, Almaty.
The MoU between both sides will likely be signed during the forthcoming visit of Deputy Prime Minister of Poland, Economy Minister Janusz Piechocinski to Azerbaijan this May as he plans to attend to the exhibition of agricultural products.
The Polish delegation to Baku will include representatives of a number of major Polish companies.
"As the new ambassador of Poland to Azerbaijan, I intend to support Polish companies as they establish new cooperation links in this country," Calka said.
Poland is also ready to assist in the training of qualified personnel. "A high quality education, especially in such subjects as economics, engineering, can be obtained in our country and we are ready to provide this opportunity to Azerbaijani youth. The conditions can be specified during the upcoming visit of Deputy Prime Minister of Poland to Baku," he said.
Earlier, the ambassador said, that his country wishes for Azerbaijan to be a strategic partner of the European Union both formally and in practice.
Calka especially noted the need for a greater liberalization of the visa regime, to help Azerbaijan gain a greater standing in Europe.
Azerbaijan’s State Statistics Committee reported that the trade turnover between the two countries amounted to $78.678 million at the end of 2014.
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Nigar Orujova is AzerNews’s staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @o_nigar
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