Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15
By Anakhanum Khidayatova – Trend:
The construction project of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway will contribute to the revival of the economy of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan and reduce the consequences of the fall in the world oil prices, Talgat Mamyrayymov, the former head of the Real politik analytical service, the independent political analyst from Kazakhstan, told Trend Jan. 14.
He also said that the project implementation will contribute to further strengthening the positions of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan in the international arena.
He said that Kazakhstan is very interested in the BTK project implementation as it will give an opportunity to use one of the routes of the Silk Road Economic Belt.
"After the project implementation, the goods from China will be supplied to the European markets through Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, and vice versa - through the port of Aktau," he said.
The expert said that China is greatly counting on Kazakhstan in the Silk Road Economic Belt project.
He said that facing with economic problems, China will attempt to improve the situation in the country through the BTK railway project.
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being constructed on the basis of a Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.
Azerbaijan allocated a loan of $775 million for the construction of the railway’s Georgian section.
A new 105-kilometer branch of the railroad is being constructed as part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project.
The peak capacity of the corridor will be 17 million metric tons of cargo per year. At the initial stage, this figure will be equal to one million passengers and 6.5 million metric tons of cargo.
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India show an interest in the BTK project.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway can be used as part of the Trans-Caspian transport route. It envisages the transportation of goods through a container train from China through Kazakhstan via the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan and then to Georgia, Turkey and Europe.
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