Azernews.Az

By Gunay Hasanova

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will visit Baku on August 8 to take part in the first trilateral meeting with Azerbaijani and Iranian presidents.

The Russian, Azerbaijani and Iranian presidents, Vladimir Putin, Ilham Aliyev and Hassan Rouhani are expected to discuss the relevant issues of the international and regional politics, as well as the prospects for establishing practical cooperation, especially, in the spheres of energy and transportation, said the website of Kremlin

Moreover, Putin is expected to hold bilateral meetings with his Azerbaijani and Iranian counterparts in Baku.

A trilateral meeting of the Presidents of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran in Baku is an important moment for the future construction and operation of the project "North-South", a political analyst and a senior Gulf State Analytics Advisor in Washington, Theodore Karasik told Trend News Agency.

Karasik noted that this meeting will give an impetus and speed up the implementation of this transportation project.

"The project is not only an economic, but also geopolitical, and it requires some discussions and clarifications," he added.

“Major portions of the project have been already completed, however, there is much work to be done especially with the Iranian segment,” said the expert.

He also added that the presidential-level meeting needs to address a salient issue for now: pushing forward the construction of Iranian trunk and discussions on transit fees and customs.

"The project will significantly reduce the costs and time of transportation. The meeting of the heads of the three countries in Baku will discuss customs, transit costs, as well as other important issues," said Karasik.

The North-South transportation corridor is designed to connect Northern Europe to South-East Asia. It will serve as a link connecting the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia.

At the initial stage, the North-South corridor will transport 5 million tons of cargo per year with further expansion of transportation to over 10 million tons.

The route primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia via ship, rail and road. Future development of the international transport corridor can have beneficial consequences not only on reducing the transport cost, but will also strengthen the trade relations between the countries.

Earlier, Russian Transport Minister Igor Levitin said that Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran are considering the sources of funding the construction of the railway as part of the North-South transport corridor.

The heads of the railway administrations of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran have signed an agreement establishing a joint venture as part of the project of North-South railway transport corridor in Tehran on February 7. The future perspectives of this issue are expected be discussed in the summit.

Although, Azerbaijan has signed several bilateral agreements with Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, the further development of the North South Transport Corridor plays a significant role for the trade sector of Azerbaijan, since both Russia and Iran are considered the main key actors in the region. Cooperation with the two countries together will affect the different spheres, such as energy and tourism.

In addition, the consequences of the meeting may positively affect the future status of the Caspian Sea.

The meeting of leaders of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia, is scheduled for August 8 in Baku.

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