Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 8
By Anvar Mammadov - Trend:
Azerbaijan will offer the most favorable tariffs for cargo transportation within the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) transport corridor, said Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Abid Sharifov.
He was addressing the 10th World Customs Organization (WCO) PICARD Conference titled "Partnerships in Customs Academic Research and Development" held in Baku Sept. 8
He said that BTK should become the most competitive transport corridor for cargo transporters.
"This is the most important condition for the successful operation of this corridor," he said.
The vice premier went on to add that the corresponding decision has not been made yet, as this process should involve all members of the project.
"Talking about tariffs is premature because the corridor is not used yet," said Sharifov. "In addition, the decision on tariffs cannot be taken unilaterally, and this process should involve all parties, in particular member countries of the project. However, it is clear that the BTK should offer more favorable cargo transportation tariffs than the other transport corridors."
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars is being constructed on the basis of the Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.
The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) finances the project in line with the Azerbaijani president's decree 'On the implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project activities' dated February 21, 2007.
A new 105-kilometer branch of the railroad is being constructed as part of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars project. In addition, the railway's Akhalkalaki-Marabda-Tbilisi section is under reconstruction in Georgia, what will increase its capacity to 15 million tons of cargo per year. A depot is under construction in Akhalkalaki for the transition of trains from the existing tracks in Georgia to the European ones.
It is planned to complete the project this year.
The highest capacity of the corridor will be 17 million tons of cargo per year. At the initial stage, this figure will be one million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo.
Edited by CN