Astrakhan discusses transit capacity of Caspian region
By Nigar Orujova
An Azerbaijani delegation headed by Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov will participate in the meeting of heads of transport departments of the Caspian Sea states in Astrakhan.
The event held on August 7-8 is aimed to discuss development of transit potential of the Caspian region, implementation of major transport and logistics projects in the framework of the international transport corridor North-South.
The heads of transport departments from Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran also attend the event.
The participants will discuss the problem of establishing direct flights between the countries of the region, simplification of procedures related to the provision of transport services, as well as legal aspects of maritime transport in the Caspian Sea, maritime safety, and pollution of the sea.
The event is also a preliminary meeting for the IV Caspian summit, which will take place in Astrakhan in September. The summit will focus on the legal status of the Caspian Sea.
The legal status of the sea is still a matter of discussion between the littoral states. While Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Russia have already agreed on the delimitation of the sea in early 2000, the other littoral states -Turkmenistan and Iran- have not reached a consensus yet.
Azerbaijan for its part supports addressing the Caspian Sea's legal status while taking into account the littoral states' sovereign rights.
The delimitation of maritime spaces is also expected to contribute to saving the endangered population of sturgeons.
The North-South corridor was established in 2000 by Iran, Russia and India in order to promote transportation cooperation among the members. Later Azerbaijan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine, Belarus, Oman, Syria and Bulgaria joined the corridor.
The total length of the International North-South Transport Corridor is 7,200 km. It aims to transport passengers and cargos from the Indian and Persian Gulf to North and West Europe through Azerbaijan and Russia.
The commodity market of "North - South" international transport corridor is estimated at 25-26 million tons by 2015, according to expert estimates.
In case of reaching the desired capacity, the trade relations among the Caspian littoral states and the Black Sea ports will be intensified. The corridor will increase rail transportation among Europe, South Asia and the Middle East.
Currently within the framework of the corridor, construction of the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara (Iran) - Astara (Azerbaijan) railway is underway. This project will be completed in early 2015. The construction of the railway carried Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran.
The Iranian side completed about 80 percent of the construction of the Qazvin-Rasht line. Azerbaijan has also planned to complete the construction of its part of the railway in a short period.
Azerbaijan must build four railway stations on its section. The length of each of them will be 1,050 meters.
Some $ 400 million in investments are expected to be made in the construction work on this section of the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara railway. It is predicted that the turnover will be six million tons in the first phase and will reach 15-20 million tons in the future.