The International Association of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TCITR) signed a memorandum of cooperation with the China Communications and Transportation Association.
Up to 80 representatives of the railway departments of Kazakhstan, China, Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania, Latvia, as well as port, shipping and logistics companies joined the round table. This route is stable and constant. Participants also discussed the possibilities for expanding the port and rail infrastructure.
The Trans-Caspian International Transport Route runs through China, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and then through Turkey and Ukraine to Europe.
- China chose the Baku port as a regional distribution center.
China is interested in using the transport and logistics potential of Azerbaijan. In its turn, Azerbaijan can make a great contribution to the implementation of the "Silk Road Economic Belt" initiative, which is one of the directions of China’s One Belt - One Road Strategy, designed to expand economic ties between the countries located on the ancient Silk Road. The routes running through Azerbaijan have the greatest economic potential.
- Azerbaijan, Iran, Georgia, Ukraine and Poland have signed a final protocol following the meeting on the South-West Transport Corridor project.
The protocol envisages expanding cooperation opportunities on the South West route in order to optimize cargo transportation and increase transit capacity.
Under the document, the coordination work between the five countries’ railways on the South-West corridor was assigned to Azerbaijan Railways CJSC.
- Saeed Mohammadzadeh, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, and Javid Gurbanov, head of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC, during their meeting in Tehran have signed an agreement within the framework of the “Construction and operation of [Iranian] Astara loading and unloading terminal” project.
The agreement provides for the construction of a 1.4-km long railway line and four terminals with high transshipment capacities on the Iranian territory with the support of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC.
In accordance with the document, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC will rent the above-mentioned railway line for a period of 15 years, and terminals - for 25 years.
Some 109.1 million tons of cargo were carried by Azerbaijani modes of transport in January-June 2017 or by 2 percent more than in January-June 2016, the Azerbaijani State Statistics Committee’s report said.
According to the report, the volume of non-oil cargo increased by 4.5 percent and reached 82.1 million tons.
Some 80.6 percent of the total volume of goods transported accounted for the private sector during the reporting period.
Some 62.9 percent of all cargo were transported by vehicles, 26.8 percent - by pipelines, 6.6 percent - by railway, 3.6 percent - by ships, 0.1 percent – planes.
Some 938.7 million people used passenger transport in January-June 2017, which is by 2.4 percent more than in January-June 2016. Most of the passengers were transported by vehicles (87.4 percent), metro (12.3 percent) and the rest part – other modes of transport.
Some 7.2 million tons of cargo were transported by railway in January-June 2017 or by 2 percent more than in January-June 2016.
On average per day, the number of loaded carriages made up 360 and unloaded - 415.
Average daily load of carriages in the northern direction is 13,700 tons, in western direction - 5,200 tons and in southern direction – 900 tons.
Some 3.94 million tons of cargo were transported by ships in January-June 2017 or by 49.9 percent more than in January-June 2016. Some 47.6 percent of the transported goods accounted for oil cargo. The volume of goods handled in Azerbaijani ports amounted to 5.26 million tons in January-June 2017.
Some 68.6 million tons of cargo were transported by vehicles in January-June 2017, which is by 2.2 percent more than in January-June 2016.
Some 820.8 million people were transported by vehicles in January-June 2017, which is by 1.8 percent more compared to January-June 2016. Some 96.1 percent of the passengers were transported by buses and 3.9 percent - by cars.
Some 115.7 million people were transported by metro increasing by 5.9 percent in January-June 2017 compared to January-June 2016.
Some 983,900 passengers were transported by air transport in January-June 2017 which is by 23 percent more than in January-June 2016. Some 0.1 percent of shipment by this kind of transport accounted for the private sector.
In January-June 2017, 16.47 million tons of oil was transported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline compared to 17.61 million tons in the same period of 2016.
“In January-June 2017, 78.3 percent of oil transported via the country’s main pipelines accounted for the BTC pipeline,” says the report.
According to the report, 21.05 million tons of oil was transported via the country’s main pipelines in January-June 2017 as compared to 22.6 million tons in the same period of 2016.
Total length of the BТС is 1,768 kilometers, including a 443-kilometer section running through Azerbaijan, a 249-kilometer section in Georgia and a 1,076-kilometer section in Turkey. The construction of the pipeline started in April 2003. It was filled with oil on May 18, 2005.
The report also says that 3.8 billion cubic meters of gas were transported via the South Caucasus Pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum) in January-June 2017, as compared to 3.59 billion cubic meters in the same period of 2016.
The length of the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipeline is more than 700 kilometers. The pipeline transports gas produced at the Shah Deniz gas and condensate field in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. The gas is supplied to Georgia and Turkey.