Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli will pay a one-day visit to Baku on April 4. He will meet with his Azerbaijani and Kazakh counterparts, Artur Rasizade and Karim Masimov, respectively, the Georgian PM’s press office reported.

Increasing the competitiveness of transit routes via Azerbaijan and Georgia is expected to top the agenda of the trilateral meeting in Baku.

Kazakh Minister of Transport and Communications Serik Akhmetov, who visited Tbilisi on April 2, has already pledged to direct at least 10 million tonnes of cargo annually to the Baku-Akhalkalaki-Kars railway route, which is expected to go into operation in two and a half years.

During the visit the Georgian Prime Minister also plans to hold bilateral talks with Azerbaijani officials, including President Ilham Aliyev.

Georgia is seeking to extend a contract with the Azerbaijani state-run company, AzerGaz, on the delivery of 1.3 million cubic meters of gas per day at USD 120 per 1000 cubic meters.

PM Nogaideli is accompanied in Baku by Energy Minister Nika Gilauri and the chief executive of the state-run Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation (GOGC), Alexander Khetaguri.

The construction of the Baku-Akhalkalaki-Kars railway is also expected to be discussed. Azerbaijan has pledged to lend USD 200 million to Georgia for the construction of its portion of the line.