ASSA-Irada ,
21 November 2007

A ceremony marking the launch of construction of a railway to link Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey was held in the western Georgian province of Marabda on Wednesday and attended by Presidents Ilham Aliyev, Mikheil Saakashvili and Abdullah Gul.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Gars railway will create the shortest route to transport cargo between Europe and Asia. The three countries sealed a deal on building the $420 million rail line this February.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, in his address at the groundbreaking ceremony, regarded the railway construction as a remarkable project of historic importance. "November 21 is a historic date. This is the project of the century that will directly link Georgia with Europe's rail lines," he said.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said implementation of the railway project will positively affect not only the development of the region but the entire world. "The project will allow to increase regional transport security which is no less important than energy security. It will bring more security and cooperation to the region," Aliyev said. He recalled that a while ago there was not much hope for the project to materialize, as international financial institutions were reluctant to allocate funding for the purpose. "Talks with them had brought no result. We therefore decided to finance the project on our own," the Azerbaijani leader said, noting that all the related technical and financial issues had been resolved.

"I am confident that the Baku-Tbilisi-Gars project will be just as successful as the Baku-Supsa and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline projects already being implemented by Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey," the president said.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said in his remarks that the project will revitalize the historic Silk Road. He said it will also improve living standards in the host countries. "I am sure that the project implementation will improve social conditions of the population in all the three countries and further strengthen cooperation among our countries," Gul said.

He voiced confidence that the project would benefit not only Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey but all regional states.

"At a time peace is emerging in the region, no country will be left out of the joint projects we are realizing. We have to intention to estrange other states from our projects. They too can capitalize on these initiatives to improve living standards of their citizens," Gul said.

Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili told the press that the railway construction was important not only from economic but also from political standpoint. "The project will further strengthen Georgia's strategic partnership with Azerbaijan and Turkey," he said.

Bezhuashvili stressed that the project will lead to the creation of a common economic zone in the Caucasus region, with the three countries in question being the key players. Besides the three host countries, the railway project will be beneficial for European states, Central Asia and China. 1.5 million passengers and 3 million tons of cargo will be transported by the railway in 2010, with the figures to reach 3.5 million passengers and 16.5 million tons by 2034.

The initiative to construct the railway largely came from Azerbaijan. The country has allocated a $220 million, 25-year loan to the Marabda-Kartsakhi Railways LLC for the upgrade of the 149-km Georgian section of the railway. An Azerbaijani company will build the remaining 30 km to link Kartsakhi and Akhalkalaki. Azerinshaat Service has won a relevant international tender and is now required to complete construction operations by October 1, 2009.