The International Bank of Azerbaijan signed a deal with Tehran on the allocatio of a $500-million loan for the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway section, Azerbaijan�s Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development Ali Noorzad said.


BAKU (Sputnik) � The Rasht-Astara railway is part of�a larger North-South Transport Corridor project, which aims to�connect India, Russia, Iran, Europe and Central Asia. At the first stage, the Corridor is expected to�transport up�to 5 million tons of�cargo per year. It will later increase its yearly transportation capacity to�10 million tons of�cargo.


"Azerbaijan's Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev visited Iran in�May, familiarized himself with�the course of�implementation of�the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway project and now we are discussing the cooperation between�Iran and Azerbaijan on�construction of�the Rasht-Astara section. The International Bank of�Azerbaijan will issue a $500-million loan to�this project," Noorzad said, as�quoted by�the Trend news agency.


According to�the deputy minister, the generalities have been agreed, and the sides are currently discussing details and loan conditions.

The expected costs of�the Rasht-Astara railway section construction amount to�about $1.1 billion. According to�Noorzad, another railway section of�the North-South Transport Corridor�� Qazvin-Rasht�� is 93-percent-ready and will be completed by�March next year.

By Sputnik