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"The President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili completes tenure on his position. In his speech, he expressed great regret that he could not launch the project of commissioning of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway during his presidency," Azerbaijani newspaper "Zerkalo" reads.

The publication reminded that the construction work of Georgian section of BTK railway kicked off on November 21, in 2007.
The presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey - Ilham Aliyev, Mikheil Saakashvili and Abdullah Gul - signed a symbolic document on launching the BTK construction. The document was placed in a capsule, and laid at the foundation of the railway.

"The agreement on starting the BTC construction was signed in Tbilisi on February 7, in 2007, and it was expected that they will complete the work by the end of 2009. Unfortunately, the BTK will not be put into operation neither in this, nor in the upcoming year. It is therefore surprising when senior officials claim that the construction works continue in accordance with the approved schedule," wrote Zerkalo writes.

As stated by the head of the transport policy of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia, Ketevan Salukvadze, while talking about the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project said that Georgian section of the railway will be completed in 2015 according to the current timetable. According to her, today 78% of the work on the first section (Marabda-Tetritskaro) is completed, as well as 54% of the work in the second section (Tetritskaro-Tsalka), 23% of the work in the third section (Tsalka-Akhalkalaki), 9% of the work on the fourth area (train station), 39% of the work on the railway station and 33% of the work on the fifth plot line (Akhalkalaki-Kartsakhi).

Salukvadze noted that the total cost of the project in Georgia makes $ 767 million. In the framework of the "Baku-Tbilisi-Kars" a new 105-kilometer railway branch is planned to be constructed. In addition, Georgia will be reconstructed Akhalkalaki-Marabda-Tbilisi railway section, which will increase its capacity to 15 million tons of cargo a year. In the future, with the completion of the Marmaray project (construction of a tunnel under the Bosporus) access to Europe will be provided by using the railway line of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars.

In his turn, the general director of the "Marabda-Kartsakhi" company Oleg Bichiashvili stated that the BTK construction goes on at an accelerated pace, but is unlikely to be used for the withdrawal of NATO’s military cargo from Afghanistan. The head of the company, who leads the project of construction of the Georgian section of the railway, got acquainted with the work on the future highway, on Thursday during the day. "In 2014 withdrawal of troops and supplies from Afghanistan is planned to be implemented, the opening of the railway is unlikely to happen before 2015," Oleg Bichiashvili told the reporters.