BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 25. Improving the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is very important for Russia, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said, Trend reports citing IRNA.
He made the remark at the meeting on the development of economic ties between Iran and Russia with the participation of officials and businessmen of the two countries in Tehran on May 25, 2022.
Deputy PM noted that Russia intends to gain access to the Persian Gulf and increase its activities through this corridor.
Novak also added that given the current situation, Russia is keen to increase imports. For this purpose, it intends to increase economic and trade cooperation with international partners.
The official noted that there was a great opportunity to increase trade turnover between Iran and Russia in 2021.
“Thus, the value of trade turnover between the two countries increased by 81 percent to $4 billion last year. Meanwhile, in the first quarter of this year, trade turnover between the two countries increased by 10 percent,” he said.
Deputy PM stressed that Russia intends to cooperate in other important projects in Iran, as in the case of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, and to develop relations between the two countries.
The foundation of the ‘International North-South Transport Corridor’ was laid on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement signed between Russia, Iran, and India on September 12, 2000.
In total, 13 countries have ratified the agreement, including Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Russia, Turkey, etc.
The purpose of creating a corridor is to reduce the delivery time of cargo from India to Russia, as well as to North and West Europe. Delivery time on the current route is more than 6 weeks, it is expected to be reduced to 3 weeks via North-South Transport Corridor.
The 175 km long Qazvin-Rasht railway was officially put into operation on March 6, 2019, to connect Azerbaijani railways with the Iranian railway network within the corridor. In addition, the 167 km long Rasht-Astara railway line must be built in Iran.
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