BAKU, Azerbaijan, Dec. 9
By Fidan Babayeva – Trend:
The construction of the terminal complex in Iranian Astara province, which the Azerbaijani side has leased for a period of 25 years, is planned to be completed in the near future, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan told Trend.
In general, the terminal complex in Astara consists of four terminals: a common cargo terminal for all cargo, a container terminal, a grain and oil terminal, said the ministry.
“In March 2018, the launch of the first phase of the Astara-Astara railway connection project and the laying of the foundation of the grain terminal took place. On March 6, 2019, the Qazvin-Rasht section of the Qazvin-Rasht-Astara (Iran) - Astara (Azerbaijan) railway was commissioned, designed to become an integral part of the North-South international transport corridor,” said the ministry.
“Despite the coronavirus-related restrictions on passenger traffic, cargo transportation in Azerbaijan, including along the North-South transport corridor, is carried out regularly," the ministry said.
“After the completion of the planned projects and a further increase in the volume of cargo transportation along the North-South transport corridor, it is not excluded that some states, including the countries of Central and Southeast Asia, will join it,” the ministry added.
The foundation of the North-South transport corridor was laid on September 12, 2000 in accordance with an intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran and India. Azerbaijan joined this agreement in 2005. In general, this agreement was ratified by 13 countries (Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Armenia, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Ukraine).
The goal of the corridor is to shorten the delivery time for goods from India to Russia, as well as to Northern and Western Europe (delivery time on the current route is more than 6 weeks, through the North-South this figure is expected to be 3 weeks).
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