Uzbekistan plans to apply the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway for the transportation of goods.
Uzbek Ambassador to Azerbaijan Bahrom Ashrafkhanov said that transportation routes from Central Asia through the Caspian Sea and further through the Caucasus are acquiring particular relevance.
In his words, negotiations have begun with Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey.
"Large-scale use of the Transcaucasian transport corridor for the transportation of increasing volumes of export-import cargo meets our states' interests. We believe that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars transport corridor and the commissioning of the Baku International Port will lead to the markets of various continents. We are grateful to see the Azerbaijani side making efforts to form transport corridors and required infrastructure," Ashrafkhanov said.
He underlined that Uzbekistan is thoroughly studying the possibilities to increase its freight traffic through these corridors.
"Recently, we have been paying great attention to promoting interregional cooperation, given its important role in bringing our fraternal countries and peoples closer together," Bahrom Ashrafkhanov said.
Turkmenistan has also shown interest in the BTK railway. A batch of the Turkmenistan-produced propylene was supplied to Turkey via the BTK railroad.
In January - July 2020, the Azerbaijani Railway transported 6.045 thousand containers at the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars route. The rate has increased by 85% (3.924 thousand boxes) compared to Jan – July 2019.
Under the preliminary estimations, shortly, the railway's throughput capacity will reach 5 million tonnes per annum.
The railway links Asia and Europe, being the shortest route not only between Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey but - Asia and Europe.
BTK significantly reduces the time for transportation of goods. It facilitates Central Asian countries' access (Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) to the European and world markets.
The length of the BTK railway is 846 km. 504 km-section is in Azerbaijan, 263 km - in Georgia, and 79 km - in Turkey.
Bela Gelashvili
News Author