RESTORATION OF ABKHAZIA RAILWAYS SECTION TO TAKE FROM 12 TO 18 MONTHS

Armenpress

TBILISI, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS: Vladimir Badalian, an Armenian parliament
member and a cochairman of the Armenian-Russian and Armenian-Georgian
Business Associations, told Armenpress a set of documents, which
are necessary for starting restoration of the Abkhazian section of
the Georgian railway will be ready by the end of the year and the
reconstruction will take from 12 to 18 months.

Badalian said the 197 km-long section of the railroad stretching across
Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia needs to be fully restored
together with bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure. Badalian said
the restoration will comprise two stages-first will be resumed trains
for transportation of cargo and then restoration of infrastructure
and stations will begin.

He said the Armenian-Georgian-Abkhazian-Russian consortium, founded
for this purpose, will meet in Tbilisi on July 10-15 to specify
some points, particularly, sources of funding. Badalian said it was
possible also to resume the operation of an automobile road stretching
through Abkhazia. He said the road may even start operation before
the railway resumes.

By the way three buses with Armenians, relatives of the passengers of
the plane that fell into the Black Sea on May 3 and reporters traveled
from Yerevan to the crash site in Russian Sochi for a commemoration
ceremony through Abkhazia. Badalian said it was a remarkable event,
as the road opened for the first time for civic passengers.