Construction of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway to start in Turkey

Turkish Transport Ministry's official for railways, ports and air transport, Ahmad Arslan, told APA-Economics that the process of buying lands will be complete next month.

"76km of the railway will be constructed in Turkey. Construction works will start in a few months. There is no problem, I think. Yuksel Domanic has also carried out technical and economic assessment of 29km railroad to be laid in Georgia," he noted.

Representatives from the Transport Ministries of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey came together in Baku a day earlier to discuss a number of issues related to implementation of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project.

The final intergovernmental agreement on BTK railway link was inked in February. As per the agreement, Azerbaijan extended a $200mln loan to Georgia's Marabda-Karsi Railroad LLC for 25 years at 1% interest rate annually. The loan will be spent on construction of a 29km long railroad in Georgia, a station in Turkish-Georgian border and rehabilitation of old railway.

Experts estimate that Azerbaijan will earn $50mln in first years after the railroad comes on line.