"If the US companies refuse to finance the project of the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway construction, as the House of Representatives Committee of the US Congress has advised them to do, there are other countries and other institutions, such as Eurobank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), IFC, and many others who can take part in the project," the Georgian Minister of Economic Development Irakly Chogovadze commented to the press on the decision of the House of Representatives committee on financial services to ban financing of the mentioned project with the US moneys.

If the project of construction the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku railway will be economically sound, it will be implemented, Irakly Chogovadze declared. Today, the minister noted, the work on the project is going through its first stage, until the consortium for its implementation is created and the required funds are found. The project cost is estimated at $400mln, so the issue of the US participation in it has not even been discussed yet. Georgia's state minister on reform coordination issues Kakha Bendukidze told journalists that the project was quite interesting and could be economically sound. However, it could only be realized in the long term, since the calculations that were submitted on the project hardly look convincing.

Issues of the railway construction, including the one of its technical and economic assessments prepared by the Turkish Yuksel Domonik Company are expected to be discussed at the meeting of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey representatives that will be held soon in Kazakhstan.

The railway construction project involves building the 98 kilometers long Kars-Akhalkalaki railroad and renovation of the railway section of the Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi rout.

/Regnum/