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.
