April news, 2024

2024-04-30

✔️ The total volume of cargo transportation through the Aktau sea port in the first quarter of 2024 amounted to more than 1.1 million tons, which is 14% more than in the same period of 2023, Kazakhstan Railways reported.

✔️ Armenia wants India to sign a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) and take the current bilateral defense partnership to a new level. The geopolitics of the South Caucasus in terms of strategic resources poses a serious challenge to India's strategic initiative to reach Russia and Europe through the North-South International Trade and Transit Corridor. The main route passes through Iran, Azerbaijan and Russia, which will eventually connect India to Europe. However, the shortest and safest route from India to Europe could be through Iran, Armenia, Georgia and Russia, bypassing Turkish-influenced Azerbaijan.

✔️ Container shipping prices show a decreasing trend. The world container index dropped below the Drewry's $3,000 mark. As of March 28, the shipping rate for one 40-foot container fell another 3% to $2,929. This figure is $1,035, or 26%, lower than the January peak of $3,964, but still sharply above the $1,500 mark in December 2023. Container shipping has been made more expensive by the Red Sea crisis, as most ships prefer to go around the African continent rather than enter to the Red Sea. The increased distance requires more fuel, which also adds to the cost of insurance. However, it seems that the business operators were able to fully adjust to the new route from the Suez Canal.

✔️ U.S. State Department's Export Control and Border Security Program (EXBS) awarded $13 million worth of equipment to the Customs Department of the Georgia Revenue Service. According to the Revenue Service, the mentioned equipment is a high-tech system of X-ray inspection of vehicles and containers, which is used in customs control.

✔️ The representative of the Asian Development Bank, Giorgi Kiziria, states that it was the ADB that recommended the feasibility of building a new airport in Georgia. As he told to the journalists, studies are continuing and the master plan of the new airport will be ready by 2024.

✔️ Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ratified the decision signed in Baku on August 18, 2022 within the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway project. The agreement involves "facilitation of customs transit operations between the governments of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia on the preliminary exchange of data". The document aims to implement the electronic exchange of primary data in order to facilitate the customs procedures of goods transported in transit on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, which passes through the territory of the three states.

"Iron Silk Road" aka "Baku-Tbilisi-Kars" railway was put into operation on October 30, 2017. Within the framework of the project, a 98 km long section of the Karsi-Akhalkalaki railway was built, of which 68 km goes through Turkey and 30 km through Georgia. Reconstruction of the 183 km Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi section was also carried out in Georgia. Azerbaijan financed the works on the Georgian part of the railway highway, and allocated two concessional loans to Georgia, totaling $775 million.

The total length of BTK is 826 km. In 2021, the volume of cargo transportation on this railway amounted to 476.9 thousand tons (+ 2.1 times more than the figure of 2020).

✔️ A new cargo terminal will be built in Tashkent International Airport, the area of which will be 5.2 hectares and the throughput will be 120 thousand tons per year. The first stage - by the end of 2024 - a new cargo terminal with an area of 8,000 square meters will be put into operation, including refrigerator and freezer chambers, a new administrative building of 3000 sq.m. will be built. In the second stage - until the end of 2025 - it is planned to build a new cargo warehouse with an area of 12 thousand square meters, iIncluding modern refrigerator and freezer chambers with different temperature conditions. According to Uzbekistan Airports Cargo, the actual capacity of the current cargo terminal is 30,000 tons per year. In addition, in 2024, approximately 67,000 tons of cargo and mail are expected to be processed.

✔️ USAID and MAERSK started a new partnership that will help Georgia capitalize on its transit potential along the Middle Corridor. A strong transport and logistics sector will help the Georgian economy grow and better integrate with major international markets, including the European Union.

TRACECA.GE

Source: europetime.eu, ge.armadio.am, bm.ge, businessinsider.ge, agrokavkaz.ge