Azerbaijan, Bulgaria to discuss cargo transportation
By Leman Mammadova
Port of Baku gives much importance to the cooperation with foreign partners to increase the transport and logistics potential of the region.
The Bulgarian Ports Infrastructure Company (BPI Co.) and the Baku International Sea Trade Port will discuss the current state of transport and logistics in the Caspian region, Mariela Ganchovska, Head of Public Relations and Protocol Department at BPI Co. told Trend.
“We met with Taleh Ziyadov, Director General of the Baku Port, in Bulgaria last year, when Ziyadov visited the ports of Varna and Burgas. We have scheduled another meeting with him at the IAPH World Ports Conference in China, which will be held on May 6-10 this year, where we will hold discussions about "Belt and Road Initiative: new opportunities for ports,” she said.
Ganchovska also touched upon the upcoming meeting with Vahid Aliyev, Deputy Director General of Baku International Sea Trade Port, that will held at the first exhibition and conference titled "Caspian Ports and Shipping 2019" in Aktau in May 2019. She noted that there will be an opportunity to discuss the current state of transport and logistics in the Caspian region and the development of multimodal transportation along the Trans-Caspian international transport route.
The head of department added that BPI Co. will continue to make efforts to support the application of the Baku Sea Trade Port to obtain the observer status in the European Sea Ports Organization.
“We are also considering the possibility to enhance the Persian Gulf - Black Sea transport corridor and to use its potential in the future,” she said.
Ganchovska further noted that the memorandum signed between the two sides on September 29, 2016 is vital for the mutual cooperation between BPI Co. and the Baku Sea Trade Port. “This provides an opportunity to encourage closer cooperation between the respective national port authorities,” she noted.
Being headquartered in Sofia, BPI Co. manages the infrastructure of the public transport ports of national importance and provides transportation management and cargo delivery services. The company has four territorial and three specialized divisions in Burgas, Varna, Lom and Ruse.
Port of Baku is an important participant of both East-West and North-South corridors which are in the interest of Bulgaria in terms of having an access to Central Asia.
In 2016, Port of Baku and BPI Co. signed a memorandum of understanding to further expand the cooperation and exchange experience between the Baku Port and Bulgarian ports of Varna and Burgas.
Port of Baku also inked memorandums of understanding with many other ports of the world in the past years. Recently, Port of Baku has begun cooperation with Dutch companies operating in the city of Venlo in the Netherlands.
Baku International Sea Trade Port was commissioned in 2018. Its territory is 400 hectares. The port can simultaneously receive up to 12 ships.
The Port was previously located within the city. Taking into account the bid of the country to become one of the major commercial and transportation hubs in the region and facilitate regional transformation, the state decided to move it to a new location, 70 km south of the capital Baku, near a small town called Alat, which is located at the strategic crossroads of the regional railroads and highways.
The Baku Port in Azerbaijan’s Alat settlement is expected to become one of the leading trade and logistics hubs of Eurasia. The capacity of the port is 15 million tons of cargo, including 100,000 containers per year. It’s going to increase to 25 million tons of cargo, including 500 000 TEU with completion of the 2nd phase.
In the future, it is planned to create a free economic zone in the surrounding areas, including the territory of the port.
The port in Alat is a transportation hub linking the west (Turkey & EU), south (Iran & India) and north (Russia). In addition, the port's location is linked to existing highways and railways, connecting the port to the inland regions of the country.
In 2018, the total volume of cargo transportation at all terminals of the Port of Baku was about 3.8 million tons, of which 84.5 percent (3.2 million tons) accounted for transit cargo.
In the first quarter of 2019, the volume of cargo transportation via the Baku International Sea Trade Port exceeded 1.03 million tons. More than 861,000 tons or 83.1 percent of all cargo transportation volume accounted for transit.
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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888
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