Russia Proposes South Caucasus Joint Venture to Restore Railway

Russia proposed the setting up of a joint railway venture with the South Caucasus states in order to unite efforts in restoring a railway connection in the region.

?The development of transport links will speed up the settlement of political problems. The Presidents of the South Caucasus countries think that the restoration of the railway will encourage the resumption of talks [over conflict resolution], which were suspended long ago,? the press office of the Russian Transport Ministry quotes Transport Minister Igor Levitin as saying.

Levitin visited Tbilisi on November 1 and held talks over the rail link via Abkhazia with the Georgian leadership.

At a news briefing in Moscow on November 3, the Russian Transport Minister said that he has offered a proposal to set up a joint Russian-Georgian-Armenian-Azerbaijani company, which will restore traffic on the Trans-Caucasus Railway that ceased functioning after the conflicts in Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh in the early 90s.

Meanwhile, the chief of the state-run Russian Railway Company Genadi Fadeev, who visited Armenian on November 3, signed an agreement with his Armenian counterpart over the setting up of a joint venture in an attempt to unite efforts to restore the railway communication in the region, RFE/RL reported.

“The countries’ presidents, transportation authorities and business representatives have expressed support for this project, which will revitalize transport links between our countries,” the Russian English-language daily Moscow Times quoted Igor Levitin as saying at a news briefing on November 3.

The railway, which stretched more than 2,300 kilometers during Soviet times, connected Black Sea ports with central Russia, operated passenger services and handled more than 15 million tons of transit cargo per year, according to the Moscow Times.

Levitin also said that he has reached an agreement with the Georgian authorities over setting up a joint group which will work over the issue of restoring the railway via Abkhazia.