The potential and the strategic priorities of developing the transport infrastructure of the Southern Caucasus and the Caspian region, and in particular developing the North – South transport corridor, were the main topics at a press conference and a special session focused on “The Caucasus and the Caspian Sea region: a bridge to the future”, organized as part of the International Regional Business Forum “1520 Strategic Partnership: the Caucasus Region”.

Taking part in the press conference were Arif Askerov, head of Azerbaijan Railways, Vadim Morozov, first vice president of Russian Railways, Konstantin Zasov, head of Rusagrotrans, and Alirza Suleymanov, first deputy chairman of Azerbaijan Railways.

As Vadim Morozov, first vice president of Russian Railways, stated at the press conference, the potential of railway transport, and that of Azerbaijan and Russia in particular, is not being utilized to its full capacity. And that, in Morozov’s view, is precisely why it is important for the CIS countries to participate in the development of the North – South transport corridor, in so far as it will enable the countries of the Caspian Sea and Caucasus regions to realize their great transport and transit potential.

In reply to questions from journalists, Arif Askerov, the head of Azerbaijan Railways, noted that the western branch of the North – South corridor requires an investment of more than 300 million dollars, of which just 40 million will be spent on the Azerbaijan section of the route. It is planned that the greater part of expenditure on creating the new rail route will be on developing the necessary railway infrastructure on the territory of Iran. More than 350 kilometres of railway track is being built in Iran as part of this project.

The press conference was followed by a special session focused on “The Caucasus and cthe Caspian Sea region: a bridge to the future”. During the session Fedor Pekhterev, director of GiprotransTES, noted that one of the most important advantages of the western branch (Russia – Azerbaijan – Iran) of the North – South transport corridor is its minimal length compared to the two other routes. The longest option for implementing the project is the route passing through the territory of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, which in turn leads to an increase in the time required for transporting freight and to additional costs. A further complication with this option is the large number of transit countries through which the railway route would pass.

Despite the fact that the third route, Uzen – Bereket – Gorgan, is shorter, it is still 1,000 kilometres longer than the Russia – Azerbaijan – Iran route.

The significance of the TRACECA transport corridor, which provides for transportation of freight on the Europe – Caucasus – Asia route, was also noted during the special session of the forum. However, one of the basic complications of this corridor is that it involves two crossings, in the Caspian region and in the Black Sea region, which also affects the time taken for transportation. Igbal Guseynov, deputy chairman of Azerbaijan Railways, Irakli Ezugbaia, Director General of the Georgian Railway, and Yermek Kizatov, vice president of Kazakhstan Railways, spoke about the structural changes in railway transport management and the transport and transit potential of their countries. The representatives of the railways of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Kazakhstan noted the need to develop cooperation in the development of transport corridors through the countries of the Caspian and Transcaucasian regions.