Ivanishvili: Kars-Tbilisi-Baku will reduce turnover in other areas of Georgia

Tbilisi/24.12.12/Turan-BS PRESS: On December 26 the Prime Minister of Georgia Bidzina Ivanishvili will make his first official  visit to Azerbaijan, he said  about it at  the  press conference on Monday, December 24. His visit to Armenia is planned in January, after which the head of government will visit Turkey.

Ivanishvili commented on his negative attitude to the project of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars. In particular, he expressed concern that after putting into operation of the railway, the turnover on the rest directions of the "Georgian Railway", which is now in operation, will decrease.

"The project is very interesting, but at the first stage there are economic issues. Specifically, there is a danger that after putting into operation of the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku, the turnover at the 'old' railway of the country, just like in the Georgian ports, will reduce," said the prime minister.

Ivanishvili expressed the hope that this problem will eventually be resolved. However, he said he does not intend to discuss the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku during scheduled for December 26 visit to Azerbaijan. “Groups work on this question, and that's enough. I'm not going to discuss the issue during a visit to Baku," said Ivanishvili.

Earlier, in an interview with the newspaper "Resonance",  Ivanishvili said that the construction of the railway Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-Baku produces a number of issues. "Perhaps, I will have to ask the  questions  during my visit to Azerbaijan, and very gently explain to our friendly country, that at some point it may not be useful for us, and needs to be regulated,"  he said.

In his turn, President of Georgia, Saakashvili, said that the rejection of the construction of this railway line "will distance  Georgia from Europe, and will make it dependent  on Russia." -02D-