Azerbaijan is ready to give a state loan in the amount of $500 million to Iran. The latter is going to spend for the financing for the construction of railway line Qazvin – Rasht – Iranian Astara – Azerbaijani Astara, abc.az reports.
Azerbaijani sources say that Azerbaijan expressed the willingness to lend Iran’s obligations on the joint project after Iran stated about the absence of money for their financing.
"The loan is expected to be similar to the loan Azerbaijan has given to Georgia for the construction within railway project Baku – Tbilisi – Kars," the source said.
The loan for Georgia amounted to $750 million at an annual rate of 1%.
"The new loan sets a purpose to complete the creation of railway line Qazvin – Rasht – Iran’s Astara – Azerbaijan’s Astara until the end of 2016," the source said.
At the same time, a source at CJSC Azerbaijani Railways (ADY) has confirmed for Fineko/abc.az the fact of an ongoing talk about such a loan.
"The decision will be taken by the Azerbaijani government, and we are still unaware of the terms of credit and time of money allocation," the ADY source said.
Earlier Azerbaijan and Iran signed a range of agreements for the implementation of the joint railway project.
