Baku, Azerbaijan, June 8
By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend:
Azerbaijan Railways CJSC is preparing to soon start tender procedures for the construction of four cargo terminals in Iran near Astara as part of the North-South transport project, said Ali Gasimov, head of the company’s tariff policy and marketing department.
He made the remarks at the EU-Azerbaijan Business Forum in Baku.
Gasimov said Azerbaijan and Iran are concluding negotiations on the lease of a land plot of 35 hectares for construction of the terminals.
“Four terminals – an oil terminal, a container terminal, a grain terminal and a terminal for other commodities – will be constructed. A lease agreement will be signed soon,” he noted, adding after this, tenders will be announced for construction of the terminals.
The International North-South Transport Corridor is meant to connect Northern Europe with Southeast Asia. It will serve as a link connecting the railways of Azerbaijan, Iran and Russia.
The corridor is planned to transport 6 million tons of cargo per year at the initial stage and 15-20 million tons of cargo in the future.