Azernews.Az

By Rasana Gasimova

The car bridge across the Samur River at the state border between Russia and Azerbaijan opened on December 24.

Azerbaijan’s Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev, Russia’s Minister of Economic Development Maksim Oreshkin, Head of the Republic of Dagestan Vladimir Vasiliev, Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbul oglu, Russian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Mikhail Bocharnikov and other officials attended the opening ceremony.

Speaking at the event, Mustafayev noted the great importance of the new bridge.

"This car bridge opens up new opportunities for expanding cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia," he said.

He emphasized that the bridge will help strengthen the ties between the two nations and increase trade. "The bridge is also an important section of the North-South project. In addition, Azerbaijan is building a new Baku-Guba-Russian border highway, which will be completed soon," Mustafayev said.

He also said that over the 11 months of 2019, freight traffic along the North-South route increased by 60 percent, whereas the traffic along the East-West route increased by 53 percent.

For his part, Maxim Oreshkin noted that the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia increased by 25 percent in 2019.

“We have no such growth rates with any other country,” Oreshkin emphasized.

The bridge was constructed under the agreement signed in between Azerbaijan and Russia August 2013. The construction of the bridge started in 2017.

The new bridge replaced the existing one, which was built in 1957. Each state will operate independently on issues related to the bridge. The bridge will be 325.3 meters long and 17.3 meters wide, the cost of construction on the Azerbaijani territory is estimated at $21.5 million. The bridge consists of two lanes. A 3.7-meters-wide pedestrian lane was also built there.

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