BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 30. Trend News Agency presents an overview of the most important events in 2022 in the transport sector of Azerbaijan.
Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR)
In order to fully reveal the transit potential of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) for cargo flows from China/Central Asian countries to the EU countries and back the railway administrations of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan agreed to establish a joint venture.
The joint venture is expected to render qualitative multi-modal, transport and logistics services, and help establish a thorough rate for the transportation of goods across the countries whose railway organizations, ports and sea carriers will be the founders of the joint venture.
It will also contribute to the introduction of a single and unique IT platform for the implementation of the activity of the joint venture, which fully automates the services which are rendered for the transportation of goods from China to Türkiye and the Black Sea ports.
This venture will simplify the process of managing the flow of goods, as well as expand the possibilities of attracting goods to the TITR corridor.
Heads of sectoral ministries of the countries participating in the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) are working to synchronize the flow of cargo. Work is underway to expand the capacity, against the background of the growth of transit cargo from China to Europe along TITR. This is about both investments and technological improvement of transport infrastructure.
Besides, the passport of this route was elaborated, within which barriers on TITR have been identified, and work was conducted to eliminate them. Additionally, there were research areas in which it’s necessary to increase investments, and where it’s possible to increase the flow of cargo.
Within the framework of the meetings of the general assembly of the members of the International Association "Trans-Caspian International Transport Route", held in 2022, a decision was made about the regular running of the feeder ship of "NMSC "Kazmortransflot" LLP on the Aktau - Baku - Aktau route.
The participants of the transportation process on the TITR route signed the "Agreement on the organization of container transportation in direct international rail-water traffic with the participation of feeder ships between the ports of the Caspian Sea (Aktau and Port of Baku in Alat settlement)", and "Agreement on interaction and measures of responsibility in the organization of transportation of goods in as part of container trains along the TITR route using feeder ships."
By the end of 2022, the volume of cargo transportation along this route is expected to increase by six times.
TITR runs through China, Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea, Azerbaijan, Georgia and further to Turkey and European countries.
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK)
An agreement was achieved between ADY Container LLC (a subsidiary of Azerbaijan Railways), and Austrian Rail Cargo to ensure uninterrupted and fast delivery of multimodal rail cargo from Europe via the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, also cargo from the Romanian port of Constanta to the Georgian port of Poti, and then to Central Asia and China.
ADY Container, together with Georgian GR Logistics and terminals, and Kazakh KTZ Express, with the support of Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO), launched container transportation of goods between ports of Poti and Constanta as part of TITR by the ship "Shair Vagif". The ship runs between the specified ports 10 days a month. Each flight carries two block trains.
At a meeting of a Trilateral Committee on Customs Issues between the governments of Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Georgia held on August 18, an agreement between the parties was signed on the exchange of primary information to simplify transit customs procedures within the framework of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway project.
The purpose of the agreement is to implement the electronic exchange of primary information to simplify customs procedures for goods transported in transit within the framework of the BTK project through the territory of all three countries. With the organization of the electronic exchange of primary information about goods, customs procedures will be simplified, and border-crossing processes will be accelerated.
The BTK railway was commissioned on October 30, 2017.
North-South
In 2022, special emphasis was placed on the need to promote the North-South project, in particular, to increase its potential. The volume of transportation through the North–South corridor isn't corresponding to the potential of all three participants of the project - Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran.
The forecast for the volume of cargo until 2030 indicates the interest of carriers to the route. Every participating country has to conduct work on the modernization of transport infrastructure, which will allow using the existing potential of the corridor to the full (15 million tons). Russia expressed readiness to consider financing and lending issues to achieve these goals.
Besides, Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran expressed the intention to build a single railway network. Full-scale use will affect the volume of trade indicators. Among the main tasks is to increase the flow of goods by 15 percent. It’s also important to create a logistics service and a tariff mechanism, to work in the development of ports, and to agree on the working conditions of each of the parties.
The parties have reached an agreement on the simplified transportation of goods. In order to ensure the effective operation of the corridor, Russia has worked out a new mechanism for its development and prepared a regulatory framework.
It’s necessary for the parties to follow the instructions of the heads of our countries, identify investments and sources of funding, and further work out a full-format agreement.
Construction of roads in liberated territories of Azerbaijan
The design and construction of 17 highways continue in Azerbaijan's liberated territories, and the work is planned to be completed by the end of 2025.
In March 2021, the construction of a four-lane Barda-Aghdam highway with a length of 44.5 kilometers was launched. Four-lane Fuzuli-Hadrut (12 kilometers), Khudafarin-Gubadli-Lachin (70.4 kilometers), and Shukurbayli-Jabrayil-Hadrut (39.7 kilometers) highways are also being built.
The 14.2-kilometer section of the Shukurbayli-Jabrayil-Hadrut highway was commissioned on October 19 this year. The Aghdam-Fuzuli highway (64.8 kilometers) is also under construction.
The construction of four-six-lane Ahmadbayli-Fuzuli-Shusha (81.6 kilometers), and Horadiz-Jabrayil-Zangilan-Aghband (123.9 kilometers) highways also continues.
Work is underway on the construction of two-lane and two-four-lane highways. Talish-Tapgaragoyunlu-Gashalti (22 kilometers), Gubadli-Eyvazli (28.5 kilometers), and Hadrut-Tugh-Azykh (22 kilometers) two-lane highways, as well as 1,012.1 kilometers of two-lane highways, are being built on the territory of Kalbajar and Lachin.
Besides, two-four-lane Toghanali-Kalbajar-Istisu (81.6 kilometers) and Kalbajar-Lachin (76.3 kilometers) two-lane highways are being built. Excavation work continues as part of the construction of an international airport in Lachin.
The construction of two-lane Tartar-Sugovushan-Talish (28.5 kilometers), ‘Road of Victory’ (101 kilometers) highways and an alternative highway bypassing Lachin (22 kilometers) has already been completed.
Zangazur Corridor
The road infrastructure created in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan will contribute to the country’s transformation into a new transport hub.
The restoration of transport communications between the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic (NAR) and other territories of Azerbaijan creates prerequisites for the beginning of a new stage of development in the region.
The implementation of the Zangazur Corridor will enable the country to increase non-oil and non-primary exports. In the future, when the Zangazur corridor will be fully built and commissioned, there will be a need to transport cargo along the East-West route, and a corresponding chain of routes will be created.
The opening of the Zangazur Corridor will provide Azerbaijan with unimpeded and safe access to Nakhchivan.
This corridor will, first of all, provide Azerbaijan with a land connection with Nakhchivan, Russia with Iran, and Armenia with Türkiye. Moreover, the corresponding road infrastructure will be built to connect Azerbaijan with Türkiye through Nakhchivan.
All of the above will contribute to the intensive development of ties between countries in the region and the formation of an environment for cooperation. In this context, the potential of the regional cooperation platform in the "3+3" format [Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Georgia, Russia, Iran and Armenia] is highly appreciated. The Zangazur Corridor will open new opportunities for political rapprochement between the countries of the region.
Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA)
At the end of 2021, the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA accepted and approved an action plan on the above strategy for 2022-2026.
At the same time, a plan to ensure the safety of navigation in the countries participating in the TRACECA corridor was adopted, and rules for determining routes were worked out. Among the important projects, the concepts of the TRACECA corridor digitalization and the container traffic development until 2030, a document on a single transit permit and some others that relate to institutional reforms inside the secretariat should be mentioned.
Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission (PS IGC) TRACECA worked on harmonizing cargo shipments of various modalities (modes of transport and the number of companies involved in the transportation of one consignment).
The PS IGC TRACECA developed a review and recommendations for harmonizing border crossing procedures,” he reminded. “All these recommendations were presented and applied by all countries participating in the corridor.
The Permanent Secretariat focuses on containerization, the use of digital technologies, and the simplification and acceleration of border-crossing processes.
PS IGC TRACECA was preparing terms of reference for the creation of its digital ecosystem within the framework of the concept of digitalization.
The level of digitalization in TRACECA countries is different and the direction of digitalization is also different. Priority is given to one mode of transport in some countries, while in another country priority is given to a different mode transport and accordingly, speaking of international transportation, if a neighboring country does not carry out similar work, then it will need additional time or costs and it will be very difficult to get an immediate effect from digitalization.
In order to avoid this, it was planned to create a single platform that would unite all interested TRACECA member countries, carriers, regulators and other authorities involved in the transportation process.
This system involves the creation of appropriate applications for drivers. It was expected to increase the level of service, service provision and competitiveness of the corridor through digitalization.
The corridor passes through the borders of a number of countries. The issue of creating this digital ecosystem is precisely aimed at facilitating border crossing along the entire route along Europe-Caucasus-Asia route.
Countries need to integrate or use a universal single platform in order for digital documents to be recognized, through which they can exchange data.
Baku International Sea Trade Port (Port of Baku)
The port plays an important role as a transport hub between Europe and Asia due to its modern infrastructure, capacity and location, as well as an active role in the development and promotion of TITR.
The port closely cooperates with the European Union and since 2016, five TAIEX (Technical Support and Information Exchange) and three long-term technical assistance projects have been implemented.
In this context, experience is being exchanged with European partners on digitalization, port operations, management, human resources, the establishment of a Regional Training Center in the port, and labor and environmental protection.
Besides, the Port of Baku is the first port in the Caspian Sea to receive the status of "Green Port", and one of the 30 ports in Europe.
The master plan for the second phase of the construction of the Baku port will be prepared by the Dutch Royal HaskoningDHV company by mid-2023. This plan covers the implementation of a number of major projects. As part of the second phase, it’s planned to increase the transshipment capacity from 15 to 25 million tons per year and up to 500,000 TEU containers per year.
Due to the continuous growth of cargo traffic, it's necessary to expand the infrastructure and capabilities of the port. In the future, the transportation of containerized cargo, in particular from China to Europe and in the opposite direction through the territory of Azerbaijan, is expected to significantly increase.