15 million euro for Caucasian railways
Financial aid worth 15 million euro has been earmarked by the European Commission to fund the installation of a telecommunications network for the Caucasian railways. The money has been allocated within the framework of the Tacis programme 'TRACECA'. Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia requested EU funding for an optical cable for communications between 133 stations, and for the signalling of railway tracks. The project is a west-east link between the Georgian seaport of Poti (Black Sea) and the Azeri seaport of Baku (Caspian Sea), branching off in the south to Tbilisi (Georgia) towards Yerevan (Armenia). Up to 80% of the cable's capacity could be used for telecommunications purposes once it is fully operational, breaking the monopoly in the Transcaucasus telecommunications sector enjoyed by the Ministries of Post and Communications.
Countries
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia