BAKU-KARS RAILWAY DELAYS

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Friday, August 14

Georgian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Nikoloz Natbiladze has stated that
there are certain delays in the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars
railway. He claims these have mainly been caused by the August war’s
consequences and geopolitical problems. However the Director of Joint
Stock Company Marabda-Kartzakhi Railways Bidzina Bregadze has stated
that the delays have been caused by technical problems, in particular
the fact that during the construction of the tunnel connecting Georgia
and Turkey it became clear that it was being built in a landslide area,
making it urgently necessary to revise the project plan.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will connect Azerbaijan and Turkey
through Georgia, at a cost of more than USD 600 million. The line
should be finished in 2010.

Armenian agency news.am says that if the Turkish Armenian border is
opened the railway will face some problems. However the Azeri and
Georgian leaderships are still confident that the project will be
successfully concluded.