Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 12
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
Ukraine plans to transport up to 10 million tons of cargo annually via Trans-Caspian international transport route through Azerbaijan to Central Asia in future, Alexander Zavgorodniy, acting head of Ukrainian Railways, exclusively told Trend Jan. 12.
The project for Trans-Caspian route is one of the most promising projects in the field of development of railways in different countries, according to him.
"It allows developing not only the potential of transit transportation, but especially that of railway transportation, which has lost very much to the goods transportation by motor vehicles in recent years," Zavgorodniy said.
Earlier it was reported that Ukraine offered carriers to use the Trans-Caspian international transport route for carrying goods to Central Asia bypassing Russia.
Ukraine also said that in this regard a container train will depart Jan. 15 from Illichivsk, for a test journey to China through Georgia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan (across the Caspian and Black seas).
Zavgorodniy too said that a container train will depart Jan. 15 from Illichivsk, Ukraine, for a test journey.
"The purpose [of journey] of the train is to pass the route to Dostyk station on the border between Kazakhstan and China, and by [its] movement to identify all the issues related to transportation through this route," he said. "In particular, to clarify the timeframes for movement [of the train], the speed of movement on different [railway] sections, and what problems arise in the process in order to further eliminate them and to carry out transportation in line with a plan."
"The test train will be loaded with goods for export to Kazakhstan. This is mainly food and beverages. Estimated time for the train to reach from Illichivsk to Dostyk is about nine days," Zavgorodniy explained.
He also announced the intention of Ukraine to increase transit through Azerbaijan.
"In October last year, we received two big ferries with capacity of 108 cars in each, which will sail between the ports of Batumi and Illichivsk, allowing transporting large amounts of cargo. We plan to carry about 10 million tons of cargo a year on the Trans-Caspian route," Zavgorodniy added.
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