Caspian Sea - Black Sea International Transport Route

On July 22, 2024, Turkmenistan confirmed its intention to sign an agreement on the creation of the Caspian Sea - Black Sea International Transport Route. This information followed a meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan Ahmed Gurbanov and State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure of Romania Adrian Gheorghe Foghi.

The participants of the meeting confirmed their intention to prepare for the signing of a quadrilateral (Turkmenistan - Azerbaijan - Georgia - Romania) intergovernmental agreement on the creation of the Caspian Sea - Black Sea International Transport Route in Bucharest in 2024. The parties discussed the implementation of previously reached agreements in the context of the activities of bilateral working groups in the field of transport, as well as the prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation in the transit sector, including within the framework of the Global Gateway initiative. The initiative aims to mobilize up to 300 billion euros in investment between 2021 and 2027.

The route enhances trade between Europe and Asia, facilitating the movement of goods between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea by a combination of sea, rail and road transport. The expected reduction in transportation costs and delivery times will make the corridor more efficient and economical. The Black Sea-Caspian International Transport Route was initiated in 2018. On October 24-25, 2018, an expert meeting on the Caspian Sea-Black Sea transport corridor was held in Ashgabat, in which representatives of the mentioned countries participated.

In March 2019, the Foreign Ministers of Georgia, Romania, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan signed the Bucharest Declaration on the Development of the Caspian Sea-Black Sea Transport Corridor.

When signing the declaration, the ministers noted that connecting Central Asia with Europe via two seas is the shortest and most cost-effective route in the existing transport networks. They also noted the involvement of Romania, a member state of the European Union, as one of the participants in the new route, which should facilitate the active participation of the European Union in the transport route.

Info: europetime.eu