Azerbaijani, Iranian ministers discuss financing Rasht-Astara railway

By  Trend

Azerbaijan’s Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Ramin Guluzade and Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi held a meeting in Tehran and discussed a deal whereby Baku has agreed to allocate a loan worth $500 million for the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway.

During the meeting in the Iranian capital on July 30, Guluzade and Akhoundi explored ways to speed up the allocation of the loan to the project, IRNA news agency reported.

The Iranian minister asked Guluzade to facilitate the financing process and help make the railway operational sooner.

The minister also said the Qazvin-Rasht project is nearing its completion and will be inaugurated soon.

Guluzade for his part said, “Documents with respect to the Rasht-Astara railway are under study at Azerbaijan’s Finance Ministry and we are hopeful to achieve good results about the financing soon."

The Rasht-Astara railroad project will be jointly carried out by Iran and Azerbaijan, each providing 50 percent of the required funding. Azerbaijan will fund $500 million and Iran will invest the same amount in the project.

To complete the railway links of the transportation corridor, Iran had earlier agreed to construct inland railroad segments in northern parts of the country in order to extend its railways to the border area with the neighboring Azerbaijan through the two Astara cities on both sides.

The initial plan included the Qazvin-Rasht and Rasht-Astara railroad segments.

In the meantime, Azerbaijan has launched a construction project to extend its railroads into Iran’s territory, which is going through the final tests and will be implemented soon.