Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug.9 / Trend, E. Ismayilov /
As of July 1, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) has provided $85.7 million within the first tranche of a loan allocated by Azerbaijan for the construction of the Georgian section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, SOFAZ said on Tuesday.
At present, the total amount of the loan allocated by Azerbaijan to the Georgian side is $775 million. It will be granted in two tranches. The volume of the first tranche is $200 million, which is allocated to the Georgian side for 25 years, at a rate of one percent.
An agreement to allocate the additional $575 million to the Georgian side was signed on July 1, 2011. These funds are allocated for a period of 25 years, at a rate of five percent.
Additional funds allocated by the Azerbaijani side for construction and rehabilitation along the territory of Georgia will be sufficient to complete the project.
The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) finances the construction and rehabilitation of the Georgian section of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.
"As of July 1, a total of $85.7 million were transferred within the first tranche. Only after the first tranche is drawn with allocation on the second tranche begin", SOFAZ said.
A new 105 km railroad section will be constructed as part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway. About 76 km will stretch via Turkey and 29 km through Georgia. Moreover, an Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Marabda railway section will be reconstructed in Georgia to increase the transport capacity to up to 15 million tons of cargo per year.
A train transition point is planned to be built in Akhalkalaki from the existing train tracks in Georgia to the European tracks.
Azerbaijani Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov said earlier that completion of construction is planned for late 2012. The corridor will be fully commissioned in early 2013.
The corridor's peak capacity will reach 17 million tons. Initially, its capacity will reach one-million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.