Regional railway project discussions due

AzerNews, Azerbaijan
Aug 18 2005

Transport ministers of Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan will meet
in Istanbul on August 24 to discuss the Gars-Tbilisi-Baku railway
construction project and a relevant draft agreement developed by
Azerbaijan.

The initial draft document on establishing a corridor, which includes
a 68-km section in Turkey and a 30-km section in Georgia, will be
developed over the next five months. The construction operations will
be funded on equal terms by the three countries.

The Gars-Tbilisi-Baku route will be used for transportation of
containers as well. Kazakhstan has expressed its interest in the
project.

Armenian officials have opposed the project, claiming that the
Gars-Armenia corridor is a more beneficial option, in an apparent move
to counter allocation of loans for the project by international banks.

Azerbaijani Deputy Transport Minister Panah Musayev has said that
the route proposed by Armenia is 200 km longer than the existing route.