Azerbaijan sees significant growth in railway deliveries from Ukraine
By Amina Nazarli
The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, intended to turn Azerbaijan into a transport hub between East and West, could bring benefits to the country.
The cargo transportation by railway from Ukraine to Azerbaijan,
running through this corridor has increased.
Azerbaijan Railways Chairman Javid Gurbanov said that for the past
three months the amount of trucks has tripled.
A total of 650 trucks functioned through this route last year, while in the first three months of this year their number reached 260.
“If we continue at this rate in the next eight months, we can achieve an increase by 40-50 percent. We believe the rate even grow. There are many factors influencing it. The main factor is ferries, whose prices are not regulated. So, we together with Georgia have taken a step and try to attract Greeks to the route. In case we succeed, the prices will twice decrease,” Gurbanov said.
The Trans-Caspian international transport route runs through
China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and onward to Europe via
Turkey and Ukraine. This is a multimodal corridor using railway,
maritime and roadways for transporting goods.
Earlier this February, Ukraine signed a memorandum on joining the
Viking container train to the Trans-Caspian International Transport
Route that will transport goods from China to Europe.
On January 14, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Ukraine signed a protocol on the establishment of competitive preferential tariffs for cargo transportation on this transport route.
Next day, Ukraine sent its first test train on the Ukraine-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan-China route via the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. The train reached China on January 31.
The route continues to be of significant importance for Kiev, after the country was forced to seek alternative routes for delivering its goods to consumers following tensions with Russia.
Once the transport corridor will run at its full capacity, it will have a positive impact both on economic growth of Azerbaijan and other members, which include regional countries.
The Trans-Caspian route enjoys an opportunity to become attractive and profitable for consignors from European countries. This route will transport approximately 300,000-400,000 containers by 2020.
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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on
Twitter: @amina_nazarli
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