BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 28. Azerbaijan can become a transit country for annual transportation of up to 15 million tons of goods and cargo by 2030, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Trend reports.
Lavrov made the remark during the opening of the "Russian-Azerbaijani relations in the 21st century: strategic partnership in the context of regional security" conference as part of the 3rd meeting of the Russia-Azerbaijan Expert Council in Baku.
"We plan to implement large-scale joint projects of both regional and global level. First of all, this is the further expansion of the International North-South Transport Corridor [INSTC], including the Rasht-Astara section [Iran],” he noted.
“Of course, the logistical, technical, financial, legal aspects have yet to be resolved, but the political will and motivation necessary to achieve success are present. The presidents [of Azerbaijan, Russia and Iran] once again confirmed this and the interest of other countries that will be involved in this project or who want to join it as investors is obvious, which means that success will be guaranteed," he stressed.
The INSTC is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode network of ship, rail, and road route for moving freight between India, Iran, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe. The route primarily involves moving freight from India, Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia via ship, rail and road. The objective of the corridor is to increase trade connectivity between major cities such as Mumbai, Moscow, Tehran, Baku, Bandar Abbas, Astrakhan, Bandar Anzali, and others.