Embassy: European freight traffic through Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan will soar

Baku. 26 October. REPORT.AZ/ Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan attach special importance to the development and modernization of their transit and transport potential. Report informs, this was announced today during a briefing at the Kazakh Embassy in Azerbaijan.

According to the embassy, in 9 months of this year the volume of transportation by rail between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan amounted to about 1.5 million tons of cargo, which is 146% more compared to the same period in 2016.

Export transportation through Azerbaijan increased by 744.9 thousand tons or 269% due to growth in loading of oil products Import from/through Azerbaijan to Kazakhstan increased by 106.7 thousand tons, or by 58% due to the growth of transportation of sugar products, chemicals and soda, confectionery products. Carriage in transit via the territory of Kazakhstan grew by 5.4 thousand tons or by 25%.

"According to forecasted estimates, until 2020, freight traffic along the East-West direction will increase five-fold and 1.3 million containers from China will be sent to the West, 300,000 containers of which will be transported along the Caucasus route. European freight traffic will increase several-fold through Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan to the countries of Central Asia and China, as well as the flow of Chinese goods through Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan to Europe. Thus, in the near future, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan will become a "transit hub" for cargo transportation between Europe and Asia”, embassy has said.