Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

An agreement on transportation of Kazakh goods through the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Kazakhstan is scheduled to be signed by late 2012, Kazakh Ambassador to Azerbaijan Serik Primbetov told journalists on Wednesday.

The agreement is to be signed by the transport ministers of the four countries; the drawing up of the document is currently in progress with the volumes of freight transportation being specified, the ambassador said.

Earlier, on October 10, Akif Mustafayev, national secretary from Azerbaijan for Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA), said Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Turkey will sign two documents within the Silk Wind project.

"These are a memorandum of understanding among the transport ministries of the four countries, and the other one is an agreement on development of multi-modal transportation," Mustafayev noted. "Both documents are under development."

The aim of the Silk Wind project is to create favorable conditions for a container block train route with advanced electronic exchange of information, simplification of customs and border-crossing procedures, reduction of transit time and travel time.

"The Silk Wind project serves as a supplement to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which is under construction," Mustafayev added.

Mustafayev believes the MoU can be signed early next year, while the agreement on multimodal transportation -- at the next intergovernmental TRACECA conference, which is due in Dushanbe in May 2013.

TRACECA is an international transport cooperation program between the EU and its partner countries in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. Current TRACECA member states are Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Ukraine and Iran.

Growing interest

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is gaining more and more interest of Central Asian countries and may become an even larger regional route.

Kazakhstan is very interested in the project, which will allow wheat exports to more competitive markets.

Kazakhstan's Minister of Agriculture Asiljan Mamitbekov said Kazakhstan will use the railway project as a new corridor for grain exports. Last year's significant yield of wheat, being exported to the Russian Black Sea overstocked markets, does not produce anticipated profits for the country.

Meanwhile, Nurlan Tleubayev, President of the Grain Union of Kazakhstan, said the Central Asian state will not ship grains through the transport corridor of the Black and Baltic Seas in 2013.

"The country will deal with exports of high-protein wheat in the volume of 500,000 tons per year through the region," he explained.

Tleubayev noted that from 2013 to the first quarter of 2014 Kazakhstan will be connected to the railway running from Turkey to Georgia.

"Thus, Kazakhstan will refuse to transit grains through Russia. Kazakh traders have the port of Aktau, and Kazakh rail cars will run to Azerbaijan via the Caspian Sea onwards to Georgia and Turkey," he said.

Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan voiced their interest in implementing the Navoi-Turkmenbashi-Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project in a joint statement issued by Presidents Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov and Islam Karimov during the Uzbek leader's visit to Ashgabat on October 2.

"The parties highlighted the importance of implementing the Navoi-Turkmenbashi-Baku-Tbilisi-Kars transport project...which will provide broad access to international markets," the Turkmen and Uzbek leaders' statement said.

By joining the project, both hydrocarbon-rich Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan will gain access to European markets bypassing Russia and Kazakhstan.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project aims to link directly the railway systems of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey to transport large amounts of cargo and passengers. The railway is being built in accordance with an inter-governmental agreement reached by the three countries.

According to Azerbaijan Railways chairman Arif Asgarov, the railway will be fully commissioned in 2014, while a first test train to the Turkish border is planned to be dispatched by late 2012.

The project will increase the flow of containers and other types of cargo from Asia to Europe. Its throughput capacity will peak at 17 million tons of cargo per year. Initially, the capacity will be 6.5 million tons of consignments and 1 million passengers.