The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) started supplying gas to Slovakia's largest state energy supplier SPP from December 1.

According to the information of the Georgian Oil and Gas Corporation, in 11 months of 2024, a total of almost 27 million tons of oil was transported through the oil pipeline. Major shareholders of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan are: BP (30%), SOCAR (25%), MOL (89%), Equinor (8.7%).

French railway rolling stock manufacturer Alstom is building four technical service centers in Kazakhstan's railway network. The total volume of investments is about 50 million euros. The first center, located near the Kyrgyz border, should be commissioned in early 2025.

The participating states of the "Lapis Lazuli" transport route form a consulting group. Azerbaijan's Minister of Digital Development and Transport Nabiyev participated in a meeting held in Istanbul on October 3, where issues related to the activation of the Lapis Lazuli route were discussed. According to the project, cargoes from Afghanistan are connected to the ports of Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan on the Caspian Sea by rail and road, and through the ports of Poti and Batumi on the Black Sea in Georgia, cargoes are transported to Europe. The first shipment from Afghanistan via the "Lapis Lazuli" route crossed the border of Georgia in December 2018.

In 2025, China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan will start building a railway. The railway will start from the Chinese city of Kashgar, pass through Torugart, Makmal, Jalal-Abad in Kyrgyzstan and enter Andijan in Uzbekistan. Then the highway will be connected to the roads of other Central Asian countries, from where cargo will be transported to the Caspian Sea, Turkey and Europe. With the new route, the transportation time between China and Europe will be reduced by about a week. According to experts, the annual volume of cargo transportation will reach 15 million tons. The route will contribute to the growth of coal imports from Kyrgyzstan, and transportation costs will be reduced by a third. Export of perishable goods will also be possible through the new railway.

"We are actively working on the integration of the IT systems of Turkey and Georgia. Digital connection and electronic information exchange in the transport sector should be strengthened, which should be a priority for all states of the corridor", said the Secretary General of TRACECA, at the meeting held in the framework of COP29 in November.

The Karsi-Akhalkalaki railway carries not even 1% of the total load of the Georgian railway, this is clear from the management report of the Georgian Railway, according to which 13,000 tons of cargo entered Georgia and 9,000 tons of cargo left through the Akhalkalaki station in the nine months of 2024, which is not even one percent of the entire cargo turnover of the railway - 10,400,000 tons.

The Council of the World Bank allocated 660 million Domar to Turkey for the development of the Divrigi-Kars section, which is part of the Middle Corridor and is connected to the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway. Funding is provided for the development of electric-railway transport.

Kazakhstan and China have started building a container hub on the coast of the Caspian Sea to increase shipping. The implementation of the hub will increase the transportation of containers in the Transcaspian direction through Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey. The project is implemented in the Mangistau region, it will increase the capacity of Aktau port to 240 thousand twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU).

According to Georgian stats data, in 9 months of 2024, the volume of cargo carried by air transport of Georgia amounted to 172.2 thousand tons, which is an annual increase of 14.5%.

In January-November 2024, the revenue received from driving trucks in the transport corridor of Georgia decreased by almost 1%. In January-November 2024, 164,486,563.50 GEL was received from the handling of trailers, and 166,680,298.00 GEL in the same period of 2023. In January-November 2024, 469,961 trucks crossed the corridor of Georgia.

Microsoft has established a multi-regional hub in Kazakhstan, covering Central Asia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Mongolia and Pakistan. According to the President of Kazakhstan Tokaev, the National Artificial Intelligence Center in Astana will be launched next year. The President emphasized the need to continue the development of telecommunication networks, data centers, the introduction of international cyber security standards, and increasing the competencies of Kazakhstan's specialists in this field.

In November 2024, at the initiative of Bulgaria, a discussion was held about the possibility of supplying green energy from Georgia to Turkey, and then to Europe. Representatives of Georgia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Moldova, Serbia, Uzbekistan and Libya participated in the discussion. The first Istanbul Energy Forum included several green energy corridor projects, such as Azerbaijan-Turkey-Europe, Caspian-Black Sea-Europe and Central Asia-Azerbaijan, which will strengthen regional energy cooperation in energy security.

The Georgian shipping company E60 Shipping Line, which was carrying out ferry shipments in the direction of Romania, also started ferry-railway transportation with Bulgaria in the direction of Varna.

In November 2024, for the first time in the history of Azerbaijan-China trade relations, export cargo was sent from Baku to China by rail.

In 11 months, 50,000 units of containers were transported in the "Middle Corridor", - it was discussed at the working meeting of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route Association. In addition, 328 container trains have passed through the corridor since the beginning of the year, of which 304 came from the People's Republic of China. The 306th container train was also sent from China along the Middle Corridor in December 2024. Cargo turnover on the Middle Corridor increased by 63% in 11 months and reached 4.1 million tons.

India, Iran and Armenia have agreed to create a new transport corridor. The logistics chain should start from the Indian port city of Mumbai, then reach the Iranian port of Chabahar, from where it will reach the western or northern markets via Armenia and Georgia.

TRACECA.GE