Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan to set up JV for freight traffic

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping CJSC and Kazakhstan Railways JSC have signed an agreement on creating a joint venture in the field of freight traffic on the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TCITR).

The agreement on creation of the JV was signed by Head of Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Rauf Valiyev and President of Kazakhstan Railways Kanat Alpysbayev in Baku, Azertac reporetd.

The document is a main part of the agreement on strategic cooperation signed between the two sides in December 2016.

The Azerbaijani company reported that the JV will give a momentum to the development of the TCITR, implementation of its potential and its effective use, and will become effective after the full commissioning of the Baku International Sea Trade Port and Kazakhstan’s Kuryk port, as well as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway.

Moreover, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are planning to use unique ferries on the Caspian Sea, and the signed agreement will be useful for these ferries’ operation.

Azerbaijan owns fifty percent of the JV’s shares, while the remaining part is owned by Kazakhstan.

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route runs through China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and then through Turkey and Ukraine to Europe. New competitive tariffs were introduced for the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route since June 1, 2016.

Kazakhstan plans to export over 450,000 tons of gas oil via the new Kuryk port and then through Azerbaijan and Georgia until late 2017

The first cargo arrived at the Baku International Sea Trade Port from Kazakhstan’s new port Kuryk in Alat on March 25, 2017.

The Kuryk port with a total area of 40 hectares is located on the Trans-Caspian international transport route, which is of great importance for handling the cargo going via this route. The new complex is located closer to the Baku port, than the Aktau port, through which transit was carried out previously. The voyage from Kuryk to Baku takes 18 hours.