Baku-Tbilisi-Kars Railway to Officially Open on June 2

2026-05-27

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway will officially open on June 2 - this is stated in the information published on the website of the State Procurement Agency, in which "Marabda-Kartsakhi Railway" LLC is requesting approval for simplified procurement. According to the application, high-ranking officials of the countries participating in the project will attend the presentation scheduled for June 2 at the Akhalkalaki International Railway Station.

The "Baku-Tbilisi-Kars" project is a project of high state and public importance, within the framework of which - stations, bridges, a terminal, a tunnel, substations were built. Up to 235 km of new track was laid, and a completely new railway infrastructure meeting European standards was built. The opening ceremony should highlight the significance of the completion of the international project jointly implemented by Georgia, Azerbaijan and the Republic of Turkey.

The BTK railway has been operating in a trial mode since 2017, and on May 19, 2026, during the visit of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Kobakhidze to Baku, the official commissioning of the BTK project was signed, for which its assets will be managed by the joint company of the countries involved, BTKI Railways. The technical capacity of the railway is 5 million tons per year, although in recent years not even 10% of the mentioned load has been utilized.

The project built the 98-km Kars-Akhalkalaki railway, 68 km of which is in Turkey and 30 km in Georgia. The same project also reconstructed the 183-km Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi railway section in Georgia. The total length of the BTK railway is 827 km.

The construction of the Georgian section was fully financed by the Azerbaijani side with a loan, the amount of which is 775 million dollars and is to be repaid from the project's profits. In addition, the Georgian section was also built by Azerbaijani construction contractors. At the moment, due to the fact that the railway was not operating, the Georgian company managing its assets, LLC "Marabda-Kartsakhi Railway", has accumulated a total loss of more than 1 billion GEL.

Although the railway was originally built to transport cargo from China and Central Asia to Turkey and then to Europe, just a few days ago, on May 24, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that they would also join the project and use the railway to establish a rail connection between Turkey and Armenia, for which Pashinyan thanked the Turkish and Georgian governments.

Source: bm.ge