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Meeting of the Working Group on the Development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) Started in Istanbul
Istanbul, Turkey hosts the meeting of the Working Group on the Development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR).
Deputy Chairman of the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company (ASCO) Farkhad Guliyev chaired the meeting. In his speech, first, he provided extensive information about the attacks of the Armenian armed forces on Azerbaijan started on September 27 and their provocations, which resulted in the death of civilians. Farhad Guliyev stressed that currently Azerbaijan is implementing a number of important projects in the region. Azerbaijan’s neighboring countries and strategic allies are actively involved in this projects while Armenia remains aside. In this regard, by implementing its provocative and terrorist actions, Armenia strikes at important infrastructure facilities of Azerbaijan. Thus, missiles aimed at the country’s largest Mingechevir hydroelectric power station and the Baku-Tbilisi-Jeyhan oil pipeline fell a few meters away and, fortunately, did not explode. Such terrorist provocations pose a threat to a number of international projects in which Azerbaijan participates, including the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, and also create risks and dangers for partner countries and companies involved in these projects. Therefore, it is important to call on Armenia to end terror against the civilian population and strategic infrastructure, to comply with the requirements of international law, including the UN Security Council resolutions.
The meeting discussed the results of the activities of the Association of Legal Entities of the International Association “Trans-Caspian International Transport Route” for 9 months of 2020, the results of the transport plan along the TITR for this period, the transit time of container trains in the East-West direction and analysis of single and group traffic in the opposite direction, as well as amendments to the Agreement of June 25, 2019 on the organization of container traffic in international rail and water transport with the participation of feeder ships between the ports of the Caspian Sea (Aktau, Baku (Alat)). In addition, a report on the work done to organize the transportation of containers by feeder ships from Turkey / European countries to Kazakhstan / Central Asian countries was heard. The participants also exchanged their views regarding the approval of tariff conditions for the transportation of goods via TITR.
During the discussions, the need of effective usage of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route’s potential and attraction of freight traffic to this route was emphasized. At the meeting, attention was also paid to issues of further increasing the competitiveness of the corridor and overcoming possible difficulties.
It should be noted that at the two-day meeting, which is attended by the relevant institutions of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Poland, our country is represented by Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company, Azerbaijan Railways CJSC, Baku International Sea Trade Port CJSC, and Baku Hovsan International Sea Trade Port.