Georgian, Russian ministers to sign rail ferry service agreement

Imedi TV, Tbilisi
9 Jan 05

Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin has arrived in Georgia to sign
an agreement on the operation of a rail ferry service between the two
countries. The possible reopening of a rail link through Abkhazia will
also be discussed during the visit. Georgian Minister of State Kakha
Bendukidze has said that such a rail link cannot operate unless
Georgian border guards and customs officers are allowed to be
stationed on the Russian-Abkhaz border. The following is an excerpt
from a report by Imedi TV on 9 January:

[Presenter] Economic activity between Russia and Georgia may serve to
improve the political relationship between the two countries. A rail
ferry service is soon to begin operating between the Russian Black Sea
port of Kavkaz and the Poti and Batumi seaports. This will greatly
benefit many businesses. It will also be a lifeline for neighbouring
Armenia, which can only send and receive freight via Georgia because
of the conflict with Azerbaijan.

Experts hope that once the service is operating freight costs will
fall noticeably, making this route very attractive. Initially a weekly
ferry will operate between Russia and the Georgian ports, although
this will later be increased to two or three times a week.

Georgia’s economic development minister and Russia’s transport
minister will sign an agreement tomorrow. Russian Transport Minister
Igor Levitin arrived in Tbilisi on a two-day visit about an hour ago.

[Levitin, speaking to journalists in Russian] This will allow
competition between sea and rail freight, therefore it is not an
obstacle to another route opening [apparent reference to a rail link
via Abkhazia], which you have asked me about.

[Question] Will a railway link be opened via Abkhazia?

[Levitin] As we decided last year, we are working on this issue. We
are now studying the state of the rail infrastructure.

[Question] Are you preparing to set up a consortium?

[Levitin] Tomorrow we want to talk about cooperation that is needed
here, and not only political, as we said last time. The companies that
deal with freight through all these countries should be purely
business orientated. This should all be done by operating
companies. There is already a rail service in Abkhazia operated by a
private company. All of this is on the shoulders of commercial
structures.

[Kakha Bendukidze, Georgian state minister] If the rail link via
Abkhazia is to be restored, the most fundamental condition needs to be
met: on the Georgian-Russian border there should be our [Georgian]
border checkpoint and our customs officers.

This particular project would be of great financial benefit.

[Davit Onoprishvili, chairman of the Georgian Railways Department] We
have rail ferry services with Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine, the
fourth is now Russia, and this year we may manage it with Turkey,
whose transport minister was here just before the New Year. A service
to Turkey is very important for Armenia as Azerbaijan insists that
freight going through its territory should not end up in Armenia via
Georgia. In that case the one and only route for freight to go to
Armenia is via Georgia’s railways and the ports of Poti and
Batumi. This ferry will be the only such route from Russia.

[Passage omitted]

[Presenter] During the Russian transport minister’s visit the issue of
restoring the railway through Abkhazia will be discussed. The
reopening of the railway between Sukhumi and Inguri will require tens
of millions of dollars. Russia is prepared to pay this amount but
there are still political problems to be resolved before the technical
ones, including the return of refugees to Abkhazia and security for
freight. The reopening of the Sukhumi-Inguri railway as yet remains
just an idea.

[Onoprishvili] Repairing the railway from Sukhumi to Zugdidi, to
Inguri, will be very expensive and will take at least six or eight
months. Talks are under way on this issue, and it will probably be
discussed at this meeting. However, in my opinion, as the [Abkhaz
presidential] election is still to take place, we do not know yet, nor
does Russia, with whom we will have to discuss customs, the security
of freight and a whole range of other issues. It is clear that it is
hard to discuss the reopening of the railway right now, but there is a
desire – people are interested, including Russia, Armenia, and no less
Georgia – not just for reopening the railway but also settling the
conflict and allowing refugees to return.