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overall vehicle demand,” he said. I ranian exports via Azerbaijan continue to grow thanks to the growth of the North-South Transport Corridor, providing transport options that link Moscow to Iran’s southern Persian Gulf ports via the country in the South Caucasus.
Tbilisi mayor Kakha Kaladze argued on July 3 that Georgia should introduce a ban on used car imports, calling the situation in the capital “a complete disaster”. Georgia and other countries from the Eastern Europe and Eurasia region are major importers of used cars, most of them from Western Europe. Relatively low incomes and the widespread availability of cheaper used cars means many countries in the region have only a small market for new cars — but the use of older vehicles has negative environmental consequences. Speaking at a conference in the Georgian capital, Kaladze said that the number of imported vehicles is increasing by 7% a year, and that 98% of them are outdated, according to a city hall statement. Overall, 90% of private cars in the country are outdated.
“The first thing to be done alongside with technical inspection is to halt importing old cars ... This might trigger some dissatisfaction, but this is the step that is to be taken. The matter concerns the health of our kids,” the mayor concluded. He now plans to raise the issue of old car imports with Georgia’s central government.
9.1.3 Transport sector news
The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway linking Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey will open for passenger traffic in the third quarter of 2019, Azerbaijan Railways said in a statement on October 30.
The line was formally opened a year ago, a full decade after the agreement to build it was signed. The 826km railway connects Azerbaijan’s Caspian coast to Turkey via Georgia, and will considerably cut travel time between China and Western Europe. It also has considerable political significance and further cements relations between the three countries.
Since it’s opening on October 30, 2017, the line has carried around 3,000 containers and wagons, Azerbaijan Railways said. Among the main cargoes are construction materials, electrical equipment, detergents, grain and trucks on routes connecting China, Central Asian, Russia, Azerbaijan and Turkey. There are now plans to organise passenger transportation on the BTK line. “For this purpose in the first quarter of 2019, the import of new wagons produced by the Swiss company Stadler is on the agenda,” Azerbaijan Railways said. Initially, 10 wagons will be purchased, followed by another 10 in the second stage of the project.
Tbilisi City Hall is to within several months complete a survey on linking the subway network of Georgia’s capital with Rustavi - another important Georgian city 28 kilometres away, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze told journalists on October 22 after a conference on green energy.
At the same time, Kaladze announced that works on a new Tbilisi subway network line would begin at the end of 2019. It is to run from Samgori train station to the city’s airport at Lilo. About eight new stations will be built within this project, with an estimated cost of $90mn (including $30mn for carriages). The new line should be used by around 200,000 passengers per year, according to estimates. The rapid transit system Tbilisi Metro opened on 11 January 1966 as the fourth metro system among the countries of the former Soviet Union. It comprises of two lines, with a total length of 27.3 km, serving
43 GEORGIA Country Report November 2018 www.intellinews.com