RAILWAY IN CIS: CHINA TO JOIN BAKU-TBILISI-AKHALKALAKI RAILWAY PROJECT
Railway Market Magazine, Poland
Aug. 28, 2006
China joined the Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki railway project, Turkish
Transport Minister Binali Yildirim told in his interview with "Zaman"
Newspaper, Trend reports.
The Minister noted that Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki Railway Project
had been drawn up at the beginning of 1960, adding that together
with China, Kazakhstan also participates in the project. "In case
of realization of the project, each person moving from Kars with
railway may reach Shanghai," the Minister emphasized, saying that on
completion of the Marmaray Project, each Chinese citizen may travel
to Great Britain.
"The Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki railway will be ready within two years,
and approximately 20 million tons of cargo will be transported through
the railway annually," the Minister stressed, spelling out that today
the cargo transportation through all rail links of Turkey forms less
than 18 million tons annually.
"The Project will change the face of all regions and help its
prosperity," Turkish Minister pointed out.
In addition, the Turkish Transport Minister stressed that in relation
to the problems with Armenia, the Eastern regions of the Country have
shared closeness for many years. "Because of this, Caucasus and Asian
countries were united for the railway transportations to Europe,"
Yildirim said, mentioning that from a strategic point of view, the
Baku-Tbilisi-Akhalkalaki railway is very optimistic. The Minister
once again mentioned the figure of $250 million that is needed for
the completion of the project. "The stretch of 79 km up to the border
with Georgia will be constructed at the expense of Turkey, but the 25
km stretch in the territory of Georgia at the expense of allocations
by the Georgian Government. At the same time, works will be carried
out for the modernization of all stretches from Tbilisi to Baku,"
Yildirim stated.
It was further stated that the engineering works within the project
started in 2001, and in the first stage, it was announced of the
necessity of spending $463 million on the construction of the rail
link. "Even China offered low rate credits for the commencement of
works. Peking Government particularly voiced its readiness to allocate
credit for 13 years, with 5.5% annual rate. However, Turkish government
refused to receive the credit, as it did not wish to provide State
guarantee for the credit," Turkish Transport Minister concluded.