Russia, Azerbaijan planning to sign agreement on Rasht-Astara railway by year-end 

The agreement on the construction of the Rasht-Astara railway section between Russia and Azerbaijan must be signed by the end of 2023, Andrey Belousov, the First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, said at the plenary meeting of the Transport Week forum, Report informs.

“We must sign a similar agreement with Azerbaijan by the end of this year. From 2028, this route will be fully operational, with an additional increase in cargo transportation. The additional increase in cargo transportation is planned to be 15 million tons of cargo per year in the beginning. These are still quite ambitious plans, but they are being implemented,” Belousov said.

He emphasized that currently the idea of creating a tripartite (Russia, Iran, and Azerbaijan) international operator in the "North-South" transport corridor is being discussed.