OFFICIAL NEWS
GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONY FOR THE GEORGIAN PART OF THE BAKU-TBILISI-KARS RAILWAY HELD IN TBILISI
President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the ceremony.
The three Presidents 21 November attended the groundbreaking ceremony in the village of Marabda, in Georgia, marking the launch of construction of the Georgian section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.
The representatives from the European Union, the United States of America and other countries also attended the ceremony. The Presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, Ilham Aliyev, Mikheil Saakashvili and Abdullah Gul, respectively, said a regional railway project would link Asia with Europe via the Caucasus, was of “historic importance.”
President of Georgia said that it was “a historic day without any doubt,” because with the project Georgia was “moving out of a dead-end” and was linking itself with Europe.
“This is a huge project,” Mr. Saakashvili said. “From the very first day of my presidency – together with my colleagues from Turkey and Azerbaijan – I started to work to make this project a reality.”
He also said that the railway link would help the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, in eastern Georgia, to overcome economic isolation and “become not only an important transit point but also an economically active center.”
This project, the Georgian President said “means that Chinese cargo, now going via the Trans-Siberian railway (in Russia), will move via this route. This is a geo-political revolution.”
“I think construction of the railway will be completed a head of schedule”.
Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliyev, noted that the project, the “iron silk road” was not directed against any third country. “On the contrary, the project will boost regional cooperation and security in the region,” he said.
In January 2007, Azerbaijan agreed to loan USD 200 million to Georgia to finance construction of its portion of a railway. Georgia will have to repay the loan with 1 percent of annual interest within 25 years.
A 29 kilometer-long railway will be constructed on Georgian territory from Akhalkalaki to the Turkish border, and a 192-kilometer portion of already existing railway infrastructure will be rehabilitated in the frames of the project.
The Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili opened the groundbreaking ceremony of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.