REGIONAL COOPERATION CANNOT BE EFFECTIVE WITH NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES ISOLATED

ARKA
August 1, 2008

YEREVAN, August 1. /ARKA/. The regional cooperation cannot be
effective if one or two countries of the region are removed from
the participation in the projects, Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandyan.

The cooperation can be full, effective and promising if all
the countries of the region are embraced, the Minister told a
press conference in answering the question on construction of
Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railroad bypassing Armenia.

Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad project provides for construction of
a 105-kilometer Kars (Turkey)-Akhalkalaki (Georgia) railroad and
reconstruction of Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railroad. The project cost
is $422mln and $600mln infrastructures inclusive. Azerbaijan is to
extend a $200mln loan for construction of the Georgian section of
the railroad for 25 years at an annual of 1%.