BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 17. Work on the
Azerbaijani section of the North-South route is proceeding on
schedule.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov made the remarks
during a joint press conference with Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov following their meeting in Moscow.
He noted that from the outset, Azerbaijan has played a very
active role in coordinating and promoting the North-South
Corridor.
“As I said, strengthening connectivity among regional countries
is of great importance to us, and the North-South project has
always been a priority for us. In this context, several years ago,
specific aspects regarding the Azerbaijani section were agreed upon
bilaterally with the Russian Federation. I can say that they are
being implemented on schedule. Azerbaijan’s commitment at this
stage is to ensure that, by 2028, 5 million metric tons of cargo
can be transported via Azerbaijan’s railways along the North-South
route. There are no issues here. This project is proceeding as
planned and is being implemented in its later stages. “Once all the
work that the Russian Federation is carrying out and plans to carry
out, including on the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, is
completed, Azerbaijan is ready to increase the transit capacity
through its territory if necessary,” he said.
Bayramov noted that, in the context of this route, there is also
a section on the territory of Astara, Iran.
“As a result of Azerbaijani investments and Azerbaijani capital,
construction of the railway terminal has practically been
completed. We estimate the completion rate at around 98 percent,
but in reality, it is virtually finished; we just need to finalize
matters with the Iranian side and carry out the handover,” he
explained.
