Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan to lay Trans-Asia-Europe line by the Caspian floor

The two countries are getting ready for signing a memorandum on coordination of further actions in the framework of the project of TAE laying.

Today the sides maintain protocol, signed between operators of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan- Center of International Contacts and Calculations under the Ministry of Communication and Information Technologies and KazTransCom. In line with the document, 50% of expenses will be financed by Azerbaijan and 50% by Kazakhstan.

"A document will be signed on cooperation with co AXIOM consulting company for preparation of the feasibility study of the construction and  business plan of the line",  reports Profit.kaz with reference to KazTransCom.

A meeting with participation of the representatives of KazTransCom, Center of International Contacts and Calculations, Aztelekom and AXIOM was held in May resulting in signing of a protocol with a plan of works for the coming period.

The sides held talks on conclusion of contracts with a consultant on preparation of the project's feasibility study and during this meeting it was decided to sign a memorandum of coordinating further actions.

In line with the center of international contacts and calculations, the exact date of the signing ceremony has not been defined and Azerbaijani side expects the Kazakh colleagues to decide, as most part of the works will be carried by them.

The cost of the communication cable construction is estimated at $10 mln in line with calculations of 1999, though there is a possibility that the cost may rise.

The line with extend to nearly 380 km between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. The current route passes Turkmenistan and Iran, bypassing Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan's Communication Ministry considers that the project implementation via Azerbaijan will cut the route by almost 2000 km, which will accelerate information transfer.

At the same time, talks are held with Turkmenistan as under agreement with this country, the route of the cable can be significantly reduced, connected with Kyrgyzstan and China, for which there is a ready project.

/IKS-Media/