Azernews.Az

By Aynur Karimova

Kazakhstan is constructing a new major ferry complex in the Kuryk port in the Caspian Sea, and plans to commission it in December 2016.

The news was announced by Kazakhstan’s national railways company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy on June 2.

According to the feasibility study of the project, the volume of cargo transshipment by the new complex will stand at the level of 4.1 million metric tons per year, the company told Trend.

The project, implementation which started in April 2015, also envisages the construction of 16 buildings and facilities at the territory of the complex.

The terminal will be located on the area of 21 hectares. A 14.34 kilometer-long access road and 11.58 kilometer-long dead-end track will be constructed.

Kazakhstan Temir Zholy reminded that Kazakhstan also implements the Aktau port expansion project on the Caspian Sea, which will be completed in July 2015.

The expansion of the Aktau sea port and the construction of the ferry complex in the Kuryk port will increase the port capacity of Kazakhstan in the Caspian Sea up to 24 million metric tons via the TRACECA and the North-South corridors.

The ports of Kazakhstan will be able to handle six million metric tons of ferry cargo annually.

The TRACECA program was launched at a conference in Brussels in May 1993. It brought together trade and transport ministers from the original eight TRACECA countries. Nowadays the program includes 12 countries.

Currently, TRACECA member countries are Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Iran.

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Aynur Karimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Aynur_Karimova

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