BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 13. Türkiye expects to implement the Zangazur corridor project by 2029, Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu told Turkish media this week, Trend reports.
"This corridor is indispensable for us," Uraloglu emphasized.
According to him, the works on the Azerbaijani part of the Zangazur corridor (from Baku to Goradiz) are close to completion.
"The length of the Turkish section of the corridor is 224 kilometers. In general, the whole process of creating this corridor will take five years. That is, I think we will fully complete all works in 2028," Uraloglu said.
The State Statistics Committee of Azerbaijan reported this week that from January through November 2023, cargo transportation by all types of transport in Azerbaijan amounted to 206.9 million tons, which is 4.9 percent higher than in the same period of 2022.
Meanwhile, 57.7 percent of all cargoes were transported by road, 30.1 percent by pipeline, 8.1 percent by rail, 4 percent by sea, and 0.1 percent by air in the mentioned period.
The private sector accounted for 77.9 percent of total freight transport (up 4.6 percent from January–November 2022).
TRACECA's permanent representative in Azerbaijan Rufat Bayramov shared in an interview with Trend the plans for 2024-26 years of this international cargo transportation program, "Europe, South Caucasus, and Central Asia.".
Among the top-priority tasks for 2024–2026, he mentioned the introduction of digital solutions to ensure the smooth passage of cargo, increase the container and ferry fleet, and develop port infrastructure in the Caspian Sea.
According to Bayramov, taking into account the process of digitalization, in 2024, a unified universal electronic consignment note between Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan (CIM/SMGS) was developed, in the elaboration of which the experts of the UN specialized program provided great assistance.
"The digitalization of the route will also increase the containerization of this corridor, which in the long term can transport up to 600,000 containers per year (10 times the current limit). Many shippers prefer containerized transportation, and this aspect will be taken into account in the work for the period 2024–2026," Bayramov said.
"By the middle of 2024, it is expected to agree on the establishment of the TRACECA Business Council, which will include representatives of business, government agencies, trucking companies, customs, border authorities, and other participants in the process of transportation of goods," Bayramov reported.
Also, 14 countries participating in the program are discussing the establishment of the TRACECA Fund this year with the participation of public and private capital.
Bayramov considers the most important objective of 2024 to be the beginning of the real work of a single company operator, "Middle Corridor Multimodal," which was agreed upon by Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan—active participants in TRACECA—in November 2023.
''TRACECA is interested in integrating the Zangazur corridor
into its route network,'' Bayramov added.
The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TMTM, or Middle
Corridor) defines regional geopolitical balancing strategies,
Matthew Orr, Eurasia expert at RANE Network, told Trend in an
exclusive interview.
This week, a batch of containerized cargo from the Chinese city of Xi'an was delivered from the port of Aktau to the port of Alyat along the Middle Corridor, as reported by ADY Konteyner LLC.
The travel time from Xi'an to Alyat was 11 days. Through the Caspian Sea, 55 containers (electric cars, building materials, pipe-rolling products, and other cargo) were transported by the feeder vessel "Berkut." Each container weighs 40 feet. The containers were accepted by Absheron Logistics Center.
ASCO Logistics LLC and ASCO Security, which are part of Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company CJSC (ASCO), announced the termination of their activities and joining ASCO Nəqliyyat LLC, the Tax Service under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan reported. The rights and obligations of these companies were transferred to ASCO Transportation LLC.
Besides, Caspian Sea Transport Design, Survey, and Research Institute (ASCO) has changed its name and legal form, becoming ASCO Transportation LLC.
KazMunaiGas JSC (KMG, National Oil and Gas Company of Kazakhstan) expands the fleet of tankers to increase oil transportation in the direction of Azerbaijan, Director of the Department of Transportation and Logistics of KMG Yerbolat Mendybayev said.
According to Mendybayev, to increase the fleet for this route in June 2023, Caspian Integrated Maritime Solutions (CIMS), a joint venture of KazMunaiGas and Abu Dhabi Ports Group, acquired two new tankers with a deadweight of 8 thousand (Taraz and Liwa), which were put into operation in December.
Note that the volume of transportation of Kazakh oil from the port of Aktau to Baku in 2023 amounted to 1.392 million tons, which is 5.5 times more than in 2022.
In general, for the 12 months of 2023, the volume of transportation of Kazakh oil for export from the port of Aktau amounted to 3.376 million tons, which is 1.108 million tons more compared to the same period of 2022.