Monday, August 13, 2007, #153 (1420)

Construction starts on Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, Tbilisi opening ceremony slated for September

A ceremony marking the start of construction on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad will take place September 20 in Tbilisi, reports the news agency Regnum. Heads of state from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey will attend.

100 kilometers of new rail will be laid to complete the project, and extensive repairs on existing lines will be made.

Yerevan opposes the project, which would see a rail system connecting the Azerbaijani capital and the eastern Turkish town via Georgia, bypassing Armenia. The Armenian government instead pushes for the repair of the Kars-Giumri line, which once connected Turkey to South Caucasus rail networks via Armenia.

Armenia was sidelined in the new project due to a closed Turkish border and a deep rift in relations with Azerbaijan over the war for Nagorno-Karabakh.

The 68 kilometer-long Turkish part of the railroad will be built and paid for by Turkey itself. The Georgian part totals 30 kilometers and is being funded by a USD 200 million loan from Azerbaijan; it's to be paid back over 25 years at a one percent annual interest rate.

The first installment of USD 40 million is now due to be transferred to Georgia. This money will mainly go towards constructing a wheel adjustment point on the Georgian-Turkish border. Railroads built in Russia in the nineteenth century were deliberately made with a wider gauge than railroads in the rest of Europe, Regnum adds, forcing wheel adjustments for railroad carriages leaving or entering Georgia.

The total cost of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad is estimated to be USD 400 million.



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