AZERBAIJAN ASKS WORLD BANK TO SUPPORT BAKU-TBILISI-KARS RAILWAY PROJECT
By M. Alkhazashvili, translated by Diana Dundu
Messenger.ge, Georgia
Friday, September 14, 2007, #175 (1442)
Azerbaijani Economic Development Minister Heidar Babaev has asked
the World Bank for support in the creation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars
railway, the news agency Regnum reports.
Babaev met with the director of the Sustainable Development Department
of the Europe and Central Asia Region of the World Bank, Peter Thomson,
in Baku on September 11.
During the Soviet era, the Kars railway entered Georgia from
Armenia. The link was cut by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between
Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Azerbaijan and Turkish governments say this route can be
resurrected only once the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is settled;
the railway under construction now bypasses Armenia.
While the EU and the US refuse to sponsor the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars
railway project, Turkey is spending USD 420 million to help build it.
The World Bank has so far funded projects costing a total of USD
450 million in Azerbaijan and is behind another 19 ongoing projects,
together costing about USD 537 million.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
