TBILISI, June 4 – Georgia has finally put the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway into full operation, nearly 20 years after the project was launched. But transport expert Paata Tsagareishvili says the line enters service with old problems, weak cargo numbers and growing competition from Turkey’s wider railway plans in the South Caucasus. Tsagareishvili, director of the Transport … Read more
TBILISI, June 1 – The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line will officially enter full operation on Tuesday, Georgia’s economic development ministry announced, providing one key link in the transport chain between Asia and Europe. The line links Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and is one of the region’s most important transport projects. Georgian officials say it will strengthen … Read more
TBILISI, May 7 – Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze met U.S. State Department official Sonata Coulter in Tbilisi on Thursday, as both sides looked for a way to repair relations after years of tension. Coulter is a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. State Department. Her visit is being watched closely in Georgia, where the … Read more
TBILISI, April 24 – Georgia’s foreign minister said on Friday that the country’s role as a key transit provider between Europe and Asia cannot be ignored. Vice Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Maka Botchorishvili made the remarks while summing up Georgia’s participation in the Delphi Economic Forum, an annual event in Greece that brings together … Read more
TBILISI, March 26 – A U.S. State Department envoy met with the Georgian opposition on Thursday, on a trip that also includes contacts with the government, the private sector and civil society groups. The visiting official was identified as Peter Andreoli, the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. According to Interpressnews, the … Read more
Georgia needs to make mutually exclusive choices and commit to playing a role in the Caucasus. Geography provided Georgia with a range of opportunities limited by size, location, and history. Tbilisi did exploit the opportunities afforded by a period of globalization and U.S. hegemony, redefining the capacity of the state. The country assumed the role … Read more
Europe is pouring billions into the Middle Corridor, the transcontinental trade route linking China and Europe via Central Asia and the South Caucasus, but Georgia may be letting the opportunity slip through its fingers, warns Paata Tsagareishvili, head of the Middle Corridor Research Center in Tbilisi. In an interview with Interpressnews, Tsagareishvili said the European … Read more
TBILISI, October 20 – A new freight train service launched on October 15 shows the growing importance of the Middle Corridor transport route, linking China and Europe, via Central Asia and the South Caucasus. The route begins in Kashgar, China, and passes through Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan before entering Azerbaijan en route to the Caspian … Read more
TBILISI, October 19 – Georgia’s Finance Minister Lasha Khutsishvili told an international gathering of finance officials on Sunday that the country has managed to sustain solid economic growth despite global geopolitical turbulence, positioning itself as a reliable bridge between East and West. Speaking at a joint meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors from … Read more
TBILISI, October 8 – Turkey is pouring USD 1.6 billion into modernizing and electrifying its key east–west railway link from Divrigi to Kars and the Georgian border, but experts warn Georgia’s outdated infrastructure could limit the benefits of the project once it reaches the frontier. Transport researcher Davit Gochava told BPN that the new Turkish … Read more