On September 17-19, 2024, the Four Seasons Hotel Baku a key event in the field of transport logistics in Azerbaijan took place – the international conference BLACK AND CASPIAN FREIGHT FORUM 2024: CORRIDORS, CARGOS, INFRASTRUCTURE.

The forum was attended by over 250 delegates from 25 countries.

The forum discussed topics of international transport corridors in the Black and Caspian Seas, the market of railway services and sea freight, as well as the development of infrastructure in the Black and Caspian Seas.

BLACK AND CASPIAN FREIGHT FORUM 2024: CORRIDORS, CARGOS, INFRASTRUCTURE – review of results.

🥇 The general partner was Azerbaijan Maritime Engineering and Construction LLC (AMEC).

🥇 Gold sponsors: Port of Hovsan, CrossChem Turkmenistan, Bahnoperator.

🥇 Gala Dinner was sponsored by Formag Forwarding.

🥇Sessions were sponsored by MALBI-trans s.r.o., Transvector, BMF Port Burgas, Port of Constanta.

An exhibition area was also organized within the framework of the forum, the exhibitors were the following companies:

Official information support was provided by:

The meeting began with an evening cocktail reception at the Art Garden restaurant.

The forum day itself began with a coffee break and communication in a relaxed atmosphere.

The following people addressed the participants with a welcoming speech:

Yuriy Husyev, Ambassador of Ukraine in Azerbaijan.

Rashad SHAKAROV FICS, PgDip, Founder and CEO of Azerbaijan Maritime Engineering and Construction LLC (AMEC) – General Partner of the forum.

Kamran Habibov – President of the Freight Forwarders Association of Azerbaijan (FFAA).

Roman Dedkov, Founder and CEO of the organizing company RDL group.

Then we moved on to Session 1-1: International Transport Corridors in the Black and Caspian Seas.

The first speaker was Emil Mammadov, Advisor to the Chairman, Azərbaycan Dəmir Yolları – ADY / Azerbaijan Railways , Azerbaijan. He raised the topic of the resumption of BTK operations, talking about its new and increased freight capacity, new challenges and opportunities.

Then Liliana Krutonog, CEO of MALBI-trans, Czech Republic, presented new transport solutions from European freight forwarding companies along the Middle Corridor.

After that, Kanat Kobessov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of “NurZholCompany“, Head of the Council of the National Association of Exporters “KazGrain”, Kazakhstan, spoke about the transit potential of Kazakhstan as an important link in the development of international transport corridors.

And the possibilities of the Middle Corridor through the eyes of a global shipping company were revealed by ALKAN ALİCİK, Managing Director of MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company Georgia.

Session 1-1 was closed by Natig Jafarov, CEO, Alliance Multimodal, Azerbaijan, with the topic “The role of Azerbaijan in the international transport corridors Asia-Europe (TITR)”. After that, a panel discussion took place on the issues of the Trans-Caspian international transport route (Middle Corridor), its current state, development prospects and bottlenecks.

After a short coffee break, the second part of Session 1 began. It was opened by Irakli Danelia (Prof. PhD in Economics), Business Development Manager Central Asia and Caucasus, A.P. Moller – Maersk, Georgia, with the topic of the functionality of the Middle Corridor and opportunities for the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Zhanar Bagasharova, Head of Program Development, Global DTC (Digital Trade Corridor), Singapore/Kazakhstan, in turn, described the idea and process of creating a digital trade corridor.

Nuno Nunes, Deputy Vice President – Europe, HPC Hamburg Port Consulting GmbH, Germany, and Farid Aliyev, General Director, ALC-Interlegal, Kazakhstan, jointly presented on the topic “The Middle Corridor: “Why should business, digitalization and law go hand in hand?”

After lunch, we moved on to Session 2. Overview of the rail and sea freight market, moderated by Dmitrij Hasenkampf, General Manager, Sales and Business Development, RTSB GmbH- Rail Transportation Service Broker, Germany.

The first speaker was Leonardo Vender, Owner and CEO, Bahnoperator, Germany, with the topic of further development of the Middle Corridor.

Yingnan Yao, Head of Business Development at DB Cargo Eurasia, Germany, gave an overview of the current situation in the rail transportation market connecting China with Europe.

Next, Stephen Archer, CEO of Baltic Rail, Estonia, spoke about the development of the Baltic-Adriatic corridor, taking into account all the changes around Ukraine.

Future prospects for shipping in the Black and Caspian Seas were presented by Hakan Cendik, President of KOSDER – Koster Armatörleri ve İşletmecileri Derneği, Turkey.

Alina Zizina, Director of International Relations and Marketing Department at SIGIS, Latvia, spoke about efficient rail transport, the role of digitalization in accelerating cargo flows and the trends of recent years.

Session 3. Seaports and terminals. Infrastructure development in the Black and Caspian Seas was moderated by Igor Zhigora, Head of Commercial Department at DP World, the Netherlands.

The first speaker in this Session was Boris Balev, General Director of BMF Port Burgas AD, Bulgaria, who spoke about new opportunities for the Eurasian transport system.

Then Dan Jarnea, Head of Marketing, Constanta Port Authority, Romania, discussed the role of the Port of Constanta in the Black Sea.

The next speaker was Cumhur Guzelciftci, Business Development Director, Albayrak Grubu/ Trabzon Port, Turkey. He spoke about the port infrastructure of Turkey, its capabilities, investments, cargo reception solutions from the point of view of the Middle Corridor.

Then Mario Escobar, Business Development Manager, APM Terminals Poti • ეიპიემ ტერმინალს ფოთი, Georgia, raised the issue of the importance of economic hubs in the Middle Corridor.

The forum was closed by Klemens Materi, Project Manager for Corporate Development and Strategy, duisport – Duisburger Hafen AG, Germany. He spoke about European transport hubs and new services for the reception and distribution of cargo from Asia.

The forum participants spent the evening at the Gala Dinner at the FourSeasons Hotel, communicating, making new acquaintances and discussing projects.

The third day of the forum was dedicated to visiting thePort of Hovsan. Participants listened to an interesting excursion, learned a lot of new things and spent their time informatively.