Georgian Railways Refuses to Take EBRD Credit

Georgian Railways refused to take a EUR 100 mln loan from the EBRD for constructing new railways line bypassing Tbilisi and connecting east to west. As the company leadership stated the financial state of the company is much more advanced and better today so it can afford to finance this project itself. A railway bypass would free up a huge territory inside Tbilisi and the Georgian Railways would be able to sell these territories and receive revenues from the sale. Financial analysts and the Ministry of Finance think that this decision will not damage the relations between EBRD and Georgia. According to the project a bypass should be ready by 2013.