DURING a joint visit to Azerbaijan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, have discussed ways to strengthen transport links, including a potential railway link through Azerbaijan that seeks take some share of the cargo that is being shipped via the Suez Canal.
Russian Transport minister Maxim Sokolov said plans for the railroad may be completed next year, reported Bloomberg.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has offered to help finance the so-called North-South Transportation Corridor that would connect Europe and Asia.
Mr Rouhani earlier said Azerbaijan had agreed to provide half of the funding needed to extend the Iranian rail network to the Azeri border. The project is estimated to cost US$1.1 billion.
Russia would be able to use the new route to export goods to Asian markets and the Gulf region and it would provide a shorter passage for Iranian goods to northern and eastern Europe.
Azerbaijan's railway system is already connected with that of Russia. The state-owned International Bank of Azerbaijan will lend Iran US$500 million to extend the Iranian network to the border, Trend news service reported in June, citing the head of the Iranian Co for Construction and Development of Transportation Infrastructure, Ali Noorzad.
Azerbaijan is seeking to position itself as a major transportation hub. Russia's third-largest crude producer is using oil revenue to build the Caspian region's biggest seaport 70 kilometres south of the capital. It's also funding the construction of a railway link that will connect central Asia with Europe via Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
WORLD SHIPPING
21 August 2016 - 21:29
Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan talk of building railway from Europe and Asia
DURING a joint visit to Azerbaijan, Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, have discussed ways to strengthen transport links, including a potential railway link through Azerbaijan that seeks take some share of the cargo that is being shipped via the Suez Canal.
WORLD SHIPPING
21 August 2016 - 21:29
Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan talk of building railway from Europe and Asia
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