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The cornerstone-laying ceremony of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway to be held in October

12 September 2007 09:24 (UTC +04:00)

He added that the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) has already allocated the first installment of $50 million out of the planned $200 million for construction activities. He noted that in a week Georgia will choose the tender competition winner that will construction railroad in its territory.
The cornerstone laying ceremony of the railroad at Turkey-Georgia border is due to be held in the first ten-day of October.
â€œBy this year-end the contract winner company will be engaged in land preparation activities. Laying rails and sleepers are planned for march-April, 2008,â€ he added.
The final intergovernmental agreement on construction of Baku-Tbilisi- Kars railway link was inked in February this year.
As per the agreement, Azerbaijan extended a $200mln loan to Georgiaâ€™s Marabda-Karsi 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 station in Turkish-Georgian border and rehabilitation of old railway. /APA-Economics/