TRACECA: Priority projects rely on railway infrastructure and construction of terminals

TRACECA Corridor has a major contribution to the development of the transport system, being considered a transit platform linking Europe and Asia.  The investments allocated to infrastructure projects have a special importance in  building missing links and upgrading the existing one, the railway infrastructure being one of the key elements of the transport system in this region.

The integration of the corridor with the TEN-T network has a major importance. At the end of 2010 (when TRACECA Investment Forum was held), investment proposals of up to EUR 500 Million were made and there are already projects to be financed. “The investment sum of two projects has already increased and they will be implemented. There is a joint agreement stipulating the participation of private investments accompanied by governmental commitments to increase the financing of infrastructure projects”, said Zhantoro Satybaldyev, the Secretary General of the Permanent Secretariat of the Intergovernmental Commission TRACECA.
The list of the priority projects to be implemented was presented at the Forum. Therefore, for Armenia and Georgia, the connections with the Black Sea and Turkey ports are of utmost importance in ensuring the freight flow to Europe, while the connection to the east-west axis will permit the creation of a link to the Black Sea and Caspian Sea providing TRACECA Corridor with added value. The projects submitted by Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan will also be of great contribution in raising the importance of the Eurasian Corridor, while the projects from Uzbekistan will have great benefits by significantly reducing the distance to Europe. “The projects to be launched will contri-bute to boost the importance of TRACECA worldwide. By 2020, Kazakhstan plans to build another 1,200 km of railways and the electrification of over 1,000 km of railway lines”, said the delegate of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Azat Bekturov, on the occasion of the 9th Annual Reunion of the Intergovernmental Commission, held in November 2011 in Bucharest.
These projects will create new opportunities in developing connections to the Persian Gulf and the North-South Corridor.
It is necessary for Armenia to rehabilitate its infrastructure and the projects are expected to hit EUR 1 Billion. Georgia will continue its work on the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line, a project for which the country has received financing from Azerbaijan, an estimated USD 700 Million and needs USD 7 Million for track measurement works. For Kazakhstan, TRACECA projects are a priority for the railway infrastructure activity. Three of these projects are focused on the rehabilitation of the electrification system and four on the construction of lines. The total cost of these projects amount to more than USD 4.5 Billion.
Tajikistan needs USD 70 Million for the construction of two railways and the list of projects also includes the construction of a terminal.
Turkey will rely on the electrification of the Irmak-Karabük-Zonguldak railway (USD 320 Million), on the development of the new Filyos Port project with investments estimated at over USD 500 Million and Mersin container Port (with the initial capacity estimated at TEU 1.9 million and by 2033 to 11.4 million TEU), the estimate investment reaching to over USD 400 Million.
As regards the construction of new terminals, the list of TRACECA projects includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, with a logistics centre in the port of Alyat – USD 210 Million, Bulgaria, with a logistics centre in Ruse and also the rehabilitation of Varna-Ruse line (USD 313 Million), the Republic of Moldova, with a logistics centre requiring investments of over USD 15 Million, Tajikistan with USD 7 Million investments and Ukraine with EUR 450 Million investments.

[ by Pamela Luică ]
Share on:
Facebooktwitterlinkedinmail

 

RECOMMENDED EVENT: