Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan create railway consortium
By Fatma Babayeva
The railway agencies of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan agreed to create the International Trans-Caspian Transport Consortium.
This was announced by Nadir Azmammadov, the spokesman for Azerbaijan Railways JSC on April 13.
The agreement on the establishment of the consortium was signed on April 13 during the meeting of companies involved in cargo transportation via the Trans-Caspian international transport route.
Azerbaijani companies ADY Express and ACSC Logistics, Kazakh KTZ Express JSC and Georgian Trans Caucasus Terminals LLC are the members of the consortium.
The sides also agreed to create Supervisory Board of the Consortium. Igbal Huseynov, the deputy head of Azerbaijan Railways JSC was elected as a chairman of the board.
The parties further agreed that the schedule for cargo trains via the Trans-Caspian transport route will be determined in May, Azmammadov added.
The Trans-Caspian international transport route runs through China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and then through Turkey and Ukraine goes to Europe. This is a multimodal corridor using railway, maritime and roadways for transporting goods.
The establishment of railway consortium is expected to ensure smooth, more convenient, fast and cost-efficient transportation of goods from ports of China to Europe via the Trans-Caspian international transport route.
Once the transport corridor will run at its full capacity, it will have a positive impact both on Azerbaijan’s economic growth and its members – countries of the region. This route will transport approximately 300,000-400,000 containers by 2020.
Previously, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Ukraine signed a protocol on setting preferential tariffs for cargo transportation via this route on January 14.
Moreover, the commissioning of Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will accelerate cargo delivering between the East and West.
The effective operation of the Trans-Caspian transport route will positively affect the growth of trade turnover between Europe and China.
At the same time, the route will contribute to Azerbaijan by helping the country to turn into a transport hub between East and West.
The Trans-Caspian route is expected not to have an alternative in the coming decade by being the cheapest and most profitable corridor for freight traffic in the region.
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Fatma Babayeva is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Fatma_Babayeva
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