Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb.5
By Emil Ismayilov - Trend:
The volume of cargo transportation via the Azerbaijani segment of TRACECA (Europe-Asia-Caucasus) transport corridor reached 58 million metric tons as of 2014, TRACECA National Secretary in Azerbaijan Akif Mustafayev told Trend on Feb.5.
"This is the forecasted data and more precise figures will be presented by the State Statistical Committee," he said, adding that the cargo transportation volume will increase in the coming years.
Meanwhile, the national secretary said that the corridor operates at a profit, the volume of which increases year-on-year.
Some 59 million metric tons of cargo was transported via the corridor's Azerbaijani segment in 2013, which is 3.8 percent more than in 2012. The revenues from the cargo transportation via the corridor stood at 476.4 million AZN in 2013, which is 7.5 percent more than in 2012.
The official exchange rate on Feb.5 is 0.7844 AZN/USD.
Increase in figures was observed in the passenger transportation via the corridor as well.
Mustafayev also touched upon the outcomes of TRACECA Intergovernmental Commission's conference held in late January. The election of the secretary general was held during that conference. Five countries nominated candidates for this post and the candidacy of Mircea Ciopraga, nominated by the Turkish side was approved. Thus, the chairmanship of TRACECA Intergovernmental Commission was officially handed over from Tajikistan to Turkey.
Mustafayev said that Ciopraga's election to the post of secretary general and Turkey's chairmanship can allow to even more expand the cooperation with the EU and further develop various programs and technical projects within TRACECA.
TRACECA is an international cooperation program in the transport sphere between the EU and the partner countries in Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. The organization has a permanent secretariat in Baku.
The participant states of TRACECA are Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Ukraine and Iran.
Edited by SI
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