Some delays in the construction of Baku-Tbilisi-Karsi railway

It is unlikely that the Baku-Tbilisi-Karsi railway will start functioning in 2012 even though the Georgian government received extra funding from Azerbaijan for the construction. The building process has been proceeding very slowly.

The construction overall started in 2008, at the end of 2009 it almost stopped. In May 2010 construction resumed though again it proceeded very slowly due to a lack of financing. Then there were delays because of the some bureaucratic procedures in the additional financing provided by Azerbaijan. This happened due to the fact that the tunnel to be built appeared to be in a landslide zone and the need for an alternative route arose.

In the beginning of July 2011, Georgia received an extra loan from Azerbaijan but the opening date for the renovated railway will not be known for some time.