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Construction work in Georgian section of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway suspended

09 January 2009 12:59 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Rashad Suleymanov â€“ APA-Economics. The construction of Georgian section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway has been suspended until March, said Gurban Nazirov, Chief Engineer of Azerbaijan State Railways Company (ADDY).
He attributed the suspension of works to unfavorable weather.
â€œIf weather is favorable for working there, works will be resumed in late March or early April. Design engineering of the other parts of the railroad will be carried out during the downturn,â€ he added.
According to him, there will be no delay because of make-up in the work season.
The three countries agreed in February 2007 to build a rail line linking the Azerbaijani capital Baku, the Georgian capital Tbilisi and the Turkish city of Kars. Construction work commenced on November 21, 2007.
As per the agreement, Azerbaijan undertook to extend a $200mln loan to Georgiaâ€™s Marabda-Kartsakhi 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 ST-2 wheel base in Turkish-Georgian border and rehabilitation of old railway.
The project costs more than $600 million. Construction of railroads is slated for operation in late 2011.
A 76km long railway will be laid in Turkey as part of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Rail Link.