BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 3. Trend News Agency presents an overview of the most important events in 2023 in the transport sector of Azerbaijan.
Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR)
Digitalization of all infrastructure along the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR, or Middle Corridor) was named among the top priorities to increase the attractiveness of this corridor. The process of creating an electronic “single window” for border and customs clearance of goods intended to simplify transit along the Middle Corridor began. Work on the route's digitalization is being carried out with Singaporean specialists and can be completed in 2024.
Work has been conducted to increase the throughput capacity of the Middle Corridor by at least five times to 10-11 million tons per year by 2025. International financial institutions got involved in the work, including the World Bank, which presented a corresponding analysis in 2023.
As WB Regional Director for the South Caucasus Rolande Pryce noted, this analysis saw World Bank's recommendations for the TITR participants to improve the management of logistics solutions along the entire corridor to ensure transport occurs without border delays, enabling to increase the volume of cargo transit by 209 percent (up to 11 million tons) compared to current figures.
Improved coordination of the parties' actions along the TITR in 2023 has already led to exceeding the forecast traffic indicator by more than 300,000 tons and reaching an indicator of more than 2.3 million tons versus 1.5 million tons in 2022.
Secretary General of the TITR Association Gaidar Abdikerimov confirmed that up to six billion euro will be invested in the infrastructure of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route in the next five years.
He also said that the volume of container transportation of goods along this route can be increased to 300,000 containers per year from the current figure of 80,000.
In order to speed up work to increase the capacity of the TITR, both multilateral meetings were held in 2023 (in November - in Baku, Tbilisi, Beijing) and bilateral discussions. In particular, Kazakhstan invited Azerbaijan to consider the updated draft “TITR Road Map”, and Uzbekistan took the initiative to create a joint venture with Azerbaijan as part of the implementation of the TITR project.
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev previously proposed creating a partnership network of large ports, logistics centers and postal hubs with China as part of the Trans-Caspian international transport route.
Singapore, Bulgaria and Lithuania expressed their interest in this route in 2023.
Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK)
In 2022, freight transportation along the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway amounted to 691,000 tons (with a capacity of one million tons). However, an increase in this indicator is expected by the end of 2023 (statistics are not yet available).
Efforts to increase the capacity of freight transportation along the BTK to five million tons per year are nearing completion, and the process of increasing the maximum capacity will be finalized in the coming months.
This involves the expansion of the Georgian section and a series of works in Türkiye. Azerbaijan has invested over $100 million in the project to expand the Georgian section of the BTK.
The BTK railway, with a length of about 830 km, was commissioned on October 30, 2017. As part of the project, a railway was built from Kars to Akhalkalaki, with a length of 98 kilometers, of which 68 km is in Türkiye, 30 km in Georgia. Additionally, a 183-kilometer section from Akhalkalaki to Tbilisi in Georgia was reconstructed. The project's initial phase on the Georgian part of the railway was also financed by Azerbaijan, providing Georgia with two preferential loans totaling $775 million.
In June, the Azerbaijani parliament ratified the agreement "On the Exchange of Primary Information between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Government of Georgia, and the Government of the Republic of Türkiye" to simplify transit customs procedures within the framework of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project.
At the end of June, the President of Azerbaijan approved the intergovernmental agreement between Azerbaijan, Türkiye, and Georgia on the simplification of procedures for the exchange of primary information within the framework of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project. This agreement was signed on August 18, 2022, in Baku.
These steps, along with physical construction works, will help increase the delivery of goods to/from the EU. The BTK stands out in the regional transportation network for its ability to provide fast delivery of goods from Asia to Europe through Azerbaijan with just one transshipment operation.
North-South
Azerbaijan is an intersection of major international corridors - the East-West corridor and the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC). The opening of the Zangezur Corridor will accelerate freight transportation along the INSTC.
A crucial stage in implementing the INSTC was the agreement between Russia and Iran in May 2023 on Russia's financing of the construction of the Resht-Astara railway section. In December 2023 during a joint meeting the presidents of Russia and Iran, Vladimir Putin and Ebrahim Raisi stated that the implementation of the North-South project will expedite, with construction work on the railway branch in the territory of Iran potentially starting in 2024.
In late November 2023, President of Kazakhstan Tokayev noted that the capacity of the INSTC is expected to increase to 15 million tons of goods per year by 2027, up from the current volume of nine million tons per year.
During a meeting with the Managing Director of AD Ports Group Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Tokayev emphasized that the full potential of this route has not yet been realized. However, the participating countries are actively working on the INSTC, connecting Eurasia with the Persian Gulf, Africa, and India.
Zangazur Corridor
The ceremony of laying the foundation of the automobile bridge and border-customs infrastructure between Azerbaijan and Iran took place in Azerbaijan’s Aghband village of the Zangilan district on October 6 within the framework of the implementation of the "Memorandum of Understanding signed between the government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran on creating new communication links between the East Zangazur economic region of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through the territory of Iran.
The ceremony was attended by Deputy Prime Minister, of Azerbaijan Shahin Mustafayev and Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran Mehrdad Bazrpash.
The event emphasized that the automobile and border-customs infrastructure being created will serve to increase transit cargo transportation through the territory of the countries and facilitate entry and exit to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
In December 2023, Chairman of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC Rovshan Rustamov told reporters that the Horadiz-Aghband railway project (part of Zangazur Corridor) in Azerbaijan is 45 percent complete, and will be completed in 2025.
The implementation of the Zangazur Corridor will connect the Turkic world through land transport. Türkiye and Azerbaijan are actively working on the realization of the Zangazur Corridor, promoting the project's attractiveness in international meetings.
Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia (TRACECA)
On November 14, 2023, Turkmenistan joined the agreement on the development of the Euro-Asian Transport Corridor TRACECA, thereby increasing the number of participating countries to 14. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, this move will contribute to the development of economic relations, trade, and transportation in the regions of Europe and Asia. It will also facilitate international cargo transportation, ensure traffic safety, harmonize transportation policies, and create equal conditions for competition among various modes of transport.
In 2023, the TRACECA program celebrated its 30th anniversary. TRACECA connects Frankfurt (Germany) to Shanghai (China). The program participants include Azerbaijan, Armenia, Bulgaria, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Romania, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan.
To enhance the efficiency of the corridor, Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine have agreed to start implementing the CIM/SMGS (Uniform Rules Concerning the Contract for International Carriage of Goods by Rail/Agreement on International Goods Transport by Rail) electronic consignment note from 2024. The testing of this project will begin with railway operators, and from 2025, it will extend to other stakeholders in multimodal transportation and customs authorities.
This initiative is part of developing information infrastructure, establishing electronic information exchange among entities involved in TRACECA's operation.
Taking into account "green" trends, the first pilot cargo transportation by semi-trailer trucks along the multimodal route Lithuania – Poland – Slovakia – Hungary – Romania – Bulgaria - Black Sea – Georgia – Azerbaijan - Caspian Sea – Kazakhstan was conducted in June 2023, completing the journey in 16 days.
In August, the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA, in collaboration with partners, discussed the development of recommendations for optimal trade route scenarios among private sector representatives from Central Asian countries, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.
The Secretary-General of the TRACECA Intergovernmental Commission Aset Asavbayev highlighted that the main directions of activity include the development of multimodal transportation, digitalization of the corridor, and increased efficiency of maritime transportation.
"For the development of multimodal transportation, measures such as direct investment in infrastructure projects and comprehensive measures aimed at reducing transportation costs and increasing competitiveness are effective. Within TRACECA, we pay sufficient attention to coordination issues among representatives of multimodal transportation. The Permanent Secretariat expresses readiness to cooperate to ensure increasing and more effective connectivity in the region," he emphasized.
On July 27-28 in Tbilisi, an event aimed at improving coordination between participants in multimodal transportation (TITR) and TRACECA was held. Asavbayev and the Secretary-General of TITR Gaidar Abdikerimov signed an agreement on mutual efforts between the two organizations to attract additional cargo to these corridors.
In November, during an international conference on "International Transport and Logistics Corridor: development impulses from Zangilan", the secretary-general of the TRACECA commission said that TRACECA is ready to support the launch of container transportation between the seaports of Azerbaijan and Georgia.
He emphasized that Azerbaijan plays a crucial role in modernizing TRACECA sections and added that the expansion of international road transport is possible through Zangilan.
Earlier, Asavbayev noted that TRACECA countries are focusing on reducing the time of cargo transportation and border crossings, and digital solutions are being implemented, positively impacting the possibilities of cargo transportation between China and the European Union countries.
"By collaborating, we could raise the awareness of logistics companies about the transportation opportunities along the TRACECA corridor, especially for time-sensitive goods. The Permanent Secretariat expresses readiness to cooperate to ensure more efficient connectivity between Asian and European countries," he emphasized.
In December, the Permanent Secretary of TRACECA in Azerbaijan Rufat Bayramov noted that work is underway on the concept of an "optimal ship" to activate cargo flow through the corridor via the Caspian Sea.