Construction of dry-cargo terminal at trading port near Baku to end in 2015
By Sara Rajabova
The construction of a dry-cargo terminal of the new international trading port near the Azerbaijani capital Baku is due to finish in 2015.
"It is planned to put into operation the ferry terminal and the entire road infrastructure in 2014," Transport Minister Ziya Mammadov said during a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers chaired by President Ilham Aliyev, which was dedicated to the results of Azerbaijan's social-economic development in the first half of 2013 and upcoming tasks.
"The construction of the largest and modern international sea trading port in the Caspian Sea continues successfully. A channel with a length of 7.5 kilometers to the shore and with the depth of 7 meters has opened and work on the construction of installations onshore is underway," Mammadov said.
The construction of the new international trading port began in November 2010. It is located 65 kilometers south of Baku in the Alat settlement.
The construction of the international sea trading port will be implemented in three stages. The first stage of the project includes the construction of two ferry and three cargo berths for receiving containers of 'RoRo' type and simple (universal) dry-cargo ships. The second phase of the project envisages the construction of three more cargo berths, and the third phase implies the construction of two additional cargo berths. The port can accept up to 11.6 million tons of cargo a year.
The minister also said that four new tankers and five ferries have been acquired for the last five years at the expense of the state budget funds.
Besides, the Baku International Bus Terminal, around 11 terminals and bus stations have been built in Azerbaijani regions in the last five years, he added.
According to Mammadov, eight terminals and bus stations have been reconstructed and three terminals are being built.
Concerning the issue of the car fleet renewal, he said around 3,471 new large and medium buses, as well as 1,850 taxies, including 1,000 "London cabs", have been obtained over the past five years.
In particular, 16 Boeing, Airbus and Embraer passenger aircraft as well as three helicopters were purchased in 2008-2012. Mammadov said that international airports have been put into operation in the major regional centers of the country, such as Ganja, Lankaran, Zagatala and Gabala.
Touching upon the implementation of major transport projects by Azerbaijan, Mammadov also spoke about the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. He said that 2 kilometers of the total of 4.2 kilometers of the tunnel on the border of Turkey and Georgia have been laid.
"In the framework of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project it is planned to build a new 105-kilometer branch railway line," he said. "As is expected, each year 30 million tons of cargo will be transported via the BTK railway line, which will have direct access to the European rail network."