The cargo transshipment via the Baku International Sea Trade Port in Alat (Port of Baku) is initially projected at the level of one million tons per year with the launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway (BTK), Port of Baku General Director Taleh Ziyadov told mediaNov.20, trend.az reported.
He noted that the construction within the first phase of the Port will be completed in mid 2018.
“Thanks to the launch of the first phase, the Port will be able to handle up to 15 million tons of cargo, which is a large tonnage that creates opportunities in the next two to three years to regulate cargo flows from Europe to Asia and back,” Ziyadov said.
He noted that such projects as BTK, construction of the Port of Baku and others are part of a single big strategy to turn Azerbaijan and, in particular, Alat settlement into a single large transport hub.
“The BTK is a special project for the Port, since the main cargo transshipments will be carried out directly here. The opening of the Kars-Akhalkalaki branch gives the opportunity to ship cargo to the Turkish Mersin, the Mediterranean Sea ports and Europe, and from there to Central Asia and China. With the launch of the BTK at the first stage, the transshipment of cargoes via the Port of Baku will be about one million tons per year, further this figure will increase,” Ziyadov said.
He added that the implementation of such international projects as Lapis Lazuli, TRACECA, “North-South” and their passage through the territory of Azerbaijan, is of great importance for the transformation of the country into a transport hub.
The second phase of construction of the Baku International Sea Trade Port envisages the construction of three more cargo berths in the Port, and in the third stage two additional cargo berths will be built.
