GEORGIA'S DEPUTY MINISTER OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMEMT SCEPTICALLY TREATS
OPPORTUNITY OF CONSTRUCTION OF TURKEY-GEORGIA RAILWAY
AKHALKALAK, January 17 (Noyan Tapan). Henrik Muradian, Deputy Minister
of Economic Development of Georgia, scpetically treats the opportunity
of realization of the agreement on construction of the
Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi railway. The document was signed in late
December 2004 in Tbilisi by Alexi Alexishvili, Georgia's Minister of
Economic Development, Binali Yildirim, Turkey's Minister of Transport,
Musa Panahov, Azerbaijan's Deputy Minister of Transport. According to
preliminary calculations, about $350m will be spent on the
construction of the railway, 200m out of which will be spent on the
construction of the Kars-Akhalkalak line, 150m on the reconstruction
of the Akhalkalak-Tbilisi line. According to Muradian, the agreement
is only on paper and there are no resources necessary for
implementation of the project yet. There is no investor who will
assume the construction of the railway. It's not excluded that the
project won't be implemented during the coming 20-30 years. At the
same time Henrik Muradian attached importance to the construction of
the Akhalkalak-Kartsakh-Kars motor highway. The construction of the
Turkish sector of the road has been already finished long ago and the
construction of the Georgian sector will begin this year. The Kartsakh
customs house will open, which, according to H.Muradian, will be
economically more profitable for Armenia, too. According to the A-Info
agency, the first agreement on construction of the
Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi railway was signed between Georgia and Turkey
in 1997 January 28. According to the Anatolu Turkish news agency, on
the occasion of signing of the new agreement in 2004 December in
Tbilisi Turkish Minister Yildirim declared that Turkey, Georgia and
Azerbaijan will make a final decision on the program in 2005 April and
the program will be financed by the 3 countries.
OPPORTUNITY OF CONSTRUCTION OF TURKEY-GEORGIA RAILWAY
AKHALKALAK, January 17 (Noyan Tapan). Henrik Muradian, Deputy Minister
of Economic Development of Georgia, scpetically treats the opportunity
of realization of the agreement on construction of the
Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi railway. The document was signed in late
December 2004 in Tbilisi by Alexi Alexishvili, Georgia's Minister of
Economic Development, Binali Yildirim, Turkey's Minister of Transport,
Musa Panahov, Azerbaijan's Deputy Minister of Transport. According to
preliminary calculations, about $350m will be spent on the
construction of the railway, 200m out of which will be spent on the
construction of the Kars-Akhalkalak line, 150m on the reconstruction
of the Akhalkalak-Tbilisi line. According to Muradian, the agreement
is only on paper and there are no resources necessary for
implementation of the project yet. There is no investor who will
assume the construction of the railway. It's not excluded that the
project won't be implemented during the coming 20-30 years. At the
same time Henrik Muradian attached importance to the construction of
the Akhalkalak-Kartsakh-Kars motor highway. The construction of the
Turkish sector of the road has been already finished long ago and the
construction of the Georgian sector will begin this year. The Kartsakh
customs house will open, which, according to H.Muradian, will be
economically more profitable for Armenia, too. According to the A-Info
agency, the first agreement on construction of the
Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi railway was signed between Georgia and Turkey
in 1997 January 28. According to the Anatolu Turkish news agency, on
the occasion of signing of the new agreement in 2004 December in
Tbilisi Turkish Minister Yildirim declared that Turkey, Georgia and
Azerbaijan will make a final decision on the program in 2005 April and
the program will be financed by the 3 countries.