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BTK project to open up new cargo transport opportunities to Eurasia

Business Materials 18 February 2015 14:41 (UTC +04:00)

Riga, Latvia, Feb. 18

By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:

The commissioning of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will open up new opportunities for the development of the international freight transport to Eurasia, State Secretary of the Latvian Ministry of Transport Kaspars Ozolins said in an interview with Trend.

"The development of a transit corridor from Central Asia through Azerbaijan and the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea region, in particular to Latvia is a very promising direction," he said. "The commissioning of the BTK railroad will further strengthen the strategic importance of Azerbaijan in the region and open up new opportunities for the development of international cargo transportation from the Baltic Sea region, along with the growth of cargo transportation from the ports of Georgia to Azerbaijan and Turkey."

"There is the convenient transportation infrastructure from the Baltic countries to the Black Sea," he said. "In particular, Latvian Bison container train, connecting the Baltic ports with the ports of Ilyichevsk and Odessa on the Black Sea, is operating.

"Moreover, Latvia intends to use the Baltika-Transit container train in case of developing the cargo transportation from Azerbaijan to the Baltic countries," he said. "This train passes through the territory of Russia and connects the ports of the Baltic countries with final destinations in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

"Latvia is still interested in joining of railways of the Baltic States with the railway projects of the Caucasus and Central Asia with the help of Baltic-Transit and Zubr container trains, and it sees Azerbaijan as an important partner for the development of transit transportation to Central Asia and Iran," said Ozolins.

He said that any railway opens up new perspectives.

He said that if the length of the railway is more than 300 kilometers, then it is much more profitable to transport cargo using it.

The ministry spokesman said that in particular, the sea route is not suitable for the transportation of food products, which form the basis of export of Latvia, since it takes a long time.

"Air transportation between Baku and Riga has great potential, but its cost is high," he said.

However, it is currently difficult to talk about how beneficial the transport of goods via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will be, since everything will depend on tariffs, according to Ozolins.

Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being constructed on the basis of the Georgian-Azerbaijani-Turkish intergovernmental agreement.

The State Oil Fund of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) finances the project in accordance 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 that will increase its capacity to 15 million metric 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.

The peak capacity of the corridor will be 17 million metric tons of cargo per year. At the initial stage, this figure will be equal to one million passengers and 6.5 million metric tons of cargo. The railway is expected to be commissioned by the end of 2015.

Edited by CN

Follow the author on Twitter: @E_Kosolapova

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