Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 5
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
An alternative route has been established for the supply of raw materials from Azerbaijan to Tajikistan for the needs of the Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO), the Tajik Embassy in Azerbaijan told Trend on Oct. 5.
This route implies deliveries from Azerbaijan through Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to Tajikistan bypassing Turkmenistan.
The transit through Turkmenistan has recently been closed, and trucks with Azerbaijani raw materials have been waiting on the border with Turkmenistan for about 50 days.
It should be noted that recently, transit through Turkmenistan has been closed, and trucks with Azerbaijani raw materials have been idle on the border of Iran with Turkmenistan for about 50 days.
A source in the TALCO shared this information with Trend earlier, adding that the parties are looking for alternative ways to supply raw materials from Baku through the ports of Aktau and Kuryk in Kazakhstan.
This information has been confirmed in the port of Aktau, which said that the matter is being discussed between Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.
“There was a request from the TALCO to KTZ Express [transportation operator] to provide tariffs and confirm the possibility of transshipment of alumina. We are waiting for detailed description and information on volume of the cargo to decide whether it can be processed in the port of Aktau,” a port representative said.
On the other hand, according to the source at the TALCO, there are also problems with the supply of petroleum coke and the company is looking for additional sources of import, in particular, from Azerbaijan.
Earlier, Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Tajikistan Nematullo Hikmatullozoda, while presenting his country's capabilities at an Azerbaijani-Tajik business meeting, said Tajikistan is very interested in close cooperation with Azerbaijan in production and further export of aluminium. He also noted that an agreement on the import of petroleum coke from Azerbaijan has been reached between the TALCO and the state company SOCAR.
In their turn, SOCAR told Trend that there is a memorandum of understanding, which implies joint study of possibilities of cooperation in this particular area, but supplies have not yet been established.
“SOCAR currently does not supply such petroleum products as petroleum coke to Tajikistan. That, however, does not exclude possibility of supplies in the future,” head of the press service of SOCAR, Ibrahim Ahmadov, said.
In regard to the transit of alumina, it should be noted that neither TALCO nor the Tajik embassy knows the reasons for the obstacles created by the Turkmen side.
Moreover, according to the latest information, which, however, is not officially confirmed, Ashgabat has already resumed transits to Tajikistan.
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