TODAY.AZ / Business

Baku-Tbilisi-Kars - a project of world importance

30 October 2018 [10:00] - TODAY.AZ

By Azernews


By Narmina Mammadova

Azerbaijan implements large-scale projects in the sphere of transport ang logistics aiming to become a key transit link in the region. The country has all opportunities for this due to its geographical location and constantly developing transport infrastructure. 

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway is a very big achievement, not only of regional, but also of world importance, National Secretary of the Transport Cooperation Program (TRACECA - Transport Corridor Europe Caucasus Asia) for Azerbaijan Akif Mustafayev told Trend.

Mustafayev emphasized that BTK was implemented thanks to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s principled stance and political will.

"Azerbaijan, thanks to the BTK railway, ensured a direct railway communication with fraternal Turkey and Europe," he said.

Speaking about the advantages of the project, Mustafayev stressed that earlier, cargo had to be supplied to the Black Sea ports of Georgia and from there via ferries to Europe.

“It was a very long way and it was necessary to transfer goods from one type of transport to another,” he added.

Mustafayev also stressed that thanks to BTK, trains from Asia to Europe began to run on the shortest route.

Moreover, he added that some regions of Russia began to supply their goods through BTK, as it turned out to be more profitable than to supply the same goods through their traditional routes.

"These are mainly the regions that are closer to Kazakhstan and the regions of the North Caucasus," Mustafayev said, adding that Russia is a strategic partner of Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan is interested in Russia’s support for BTK.

On October 30, a solemn ceremony on the occasion of the opening of the BTK railway was held at the Baku International Sea Trade Port. Two trains from Kazakhstan to Turkish Mersin have already been sent via this route. The first train, consisting of 30 containers, on November 4, delivered 600 tons of wheat to the Turkish city of Mersin. The second freight train left Kazakhstan on November 27. The train has already reached Georgia.

The BTK railway is constructed on the basis of the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey intergovernmental agreement. The main purpose of the project is to improve economic relations between the three countries and attract foreign direct investment by connecting Europe and Asia.

In fact, the BTK railway route is the shortest way to deliver cargo from the Russian regions located in the Volga, Ural and Siberian Federal Districts to the Mediterranean ports of Turkey, and further to the countries of Africa and the Middle East.

The project implementation began in 2007 and construction began in 2008. The line is intended to transport one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of freight at the first stage. This capacity will then reach 3 million passengers and 17 million tons of cargo.

The TRACECA program was established at the Brussels conference on 3 May 1993 which was attended by the ministers of transport and trade of eight states -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia.

The Europe-Caucasus-Asia Transport Corridor (TRACECA) is involved in gradually developing trends of trade and economic development. Major traffic flows passing through a corridor formed on the one hand, in Western and Central Europe, and on the other - in Central and South-East Asia.

Two very important international transport corridors pass through Azerbaijan - the international North-South corridor connecting India, Iran, Azerbaijan, North-West Russia and the Baltic Sea region, as well as the transport corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia – TRACECA, which is a part of the new Silk Road and creates a strategic link between the Caspian and the Black seas.

In this regard, Azerbaijan has excellent prospects for the development of freight transport. The development of railway communication with Iran will strengthen the North-South corridor, and the recently opened Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line will develop freight traffic in the East-West direction.

In January-June 2018, cargo transit through Azerbaijan’s territory via TRACECA increased by more than three percent.

Some 62.2 percent of the total volume of transported cargo accounted for vehicles, 23.5 percent - railway and 14.3 percent – ships, said the report.

TRACECA is an international cooperation program in the field of transport between the EU and partner countries in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. The organization has a permanent secretariat in Baku.

URL: http://www.today.az/news/business/175410.html

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