BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 21
By Nargiz Sadikhova - Trend:
Senate (upper house) of Kazakhstan’s Parliament has ratified amendments to the agreement between governments of Kazakhstan and Georgia on international road traffic dated March 6, 2007, Trend reports citing Kazakh media.
Presenting the amendments to the Senate, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Industry and Infrastructural Development Beibut Atamkulov said that the amendments provide for the introduction of a permitting system for bilateral, transit traffic, as well as for the carriage of goods by road to and from third countries.
“Currently, excluding transportation of dangerous and oversized cargo, the bilateral, transit, as well as transportation to and from third countries is carried out on an unauthorized basis between Kazakhstan and Georgia. Taking into account that the permissive system gives an advantage to Georgian transport operators in the implementation of road transportation, it does not create conditions for protecting the interests of Kazakh carriers,” the minister said.
He noted that out of 18,960 tons of cargo transported in import-export routes in 2020, 29 percent falls of the share accounts for Kazakh carriers, and 57 percent on Georgian transport operators.
“The main reasons for this are the growth of the fleet of vehicles on international transport in Georgia; the opening of Georgian-Turkish, Georgian-Ukrainian joint ventures in Georgia recently; the fact that Georgia is landlocked,” the minister explained.
Atamkulov noted that the introduction of the permit system will:
- firstly, allow establishing parity in the market of freight transport by road between the two countries;
- secondly, help to increase the share of Kazakh carriers in overall bilateral transportation;
- thirdly, by contributing to an increase in the volume of cargo transported by Kazakh carriers, will create conditions for increasing their income and, accordingly, lead to renewing the fleet.
The ratification of this Protocol, as noted by the Minister, will not entail additional budgetary allocations. The document was approved by the Senate.
---
Follow the author on Twitter: @nargiz_sadikh